A Thousand Times Between
by SerafinaDraco
Summary: "Don't you mean if?" "You are all I have left of Mom, and I am not going to let you die on me. You come back to me or, so help me, I will bring you back so I can kill you myself." (REWRITE OF THE PROXIMA SERIES)
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Valentine's Day, you guys! Welcome back returning readers and welcome to the new.**

**Now let's get into it!**

**~:~**

_**1992- NEW YORK METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL**_

_"Momma?"_

_"Everything's gonna be alright, __angel__."_

_The young girl looked at her mother with __tears_ _in her eyes."Please__...__No__...__.."_

_Weakly, she nodded her head. "It's okay, __angel__. Everything's__...__.everything's going to be okay." She caressed her daughter's face. "No matter what happens, I'll be with you. You will never be alone." Her breathing began to slow. "I love you, Angie." She looked over to her best friend. "Tony__...__.take care of her for me." Her eyes began to droop. "I love you__...__.little brother__...__."_

_"I will, I promise," he replied, __tears_ _running down his face. "I love you too, sis."_

_She weakly nodded and took her last breath. _

_"Momma? Momma, no!" the girl wailed, crying into her __uncle__'s shoulder._

_"Shh__...__.it's okay, I got you." He picked up the crying child and looked at his friend. "Goodbye, Jeannie. Everything will be okay."_

~•~

_**JANUARY 2009- XAVIER**_'_**S SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS**_

"And that wraps up today's lesson. Any questions on tomorrow's assignment? None? Okay y'all are free to go!"

My kids began to scurry to their next class, giving their goodbyes.

I slouched into my chair, closing my eyes for the few moments of solace.

My phone blared to the styling of AC/DC and their highway to hell.

"Hello?" I yawned.

_"Angie? It's Pepper. You need to get here as fast as you can,_" she said, panicking.

My brow furrows in confusion. "Pepper, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

_"It's __Tony__. He's missing. Have__n't_ _you watched the news?"_

"All I saw was he was doing a weapons demo for the army. I..." _He could__n't_ _be gone. He promised me._

"_Sweetheart, it's gonna be okay. Me and Rhodes will catch you up on everything. Just get here."_

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye, Pep." _Click. _**Knock****. ****Knock****. **

"Hey, everything okay, Ange?" Logan asked, as he walked through the door.

"I really don't know, not this time." I let out a shaky breath, tears brimming my eyes. "Tony's missing and I don't know what to do." I sat up and tried to collect my thoughts. "I gotta leave tonight, could you cover for me until I get back?"

"Sure thing." I sighed in relief. _Well, that was….easy? Was expecting a little more resistance, but…._

"Okay, we just finished-" He held up his hand to stop me.

"I know what your lessons are. It's not like I can't improvise something," he replied, grinning widely. I raised a brow. _Yeah, like last time, bud…._

He was my best friend, I couldn't just dump all this on him.

He must've caught on because before I said a word, he put his hand up. "Go be with your family."

Finally, I gave in and grabbing my things. "Thank you, Loge. Just-"

"Go, Ange. Don't keep 'em waiting," he answered, shooing me out the door.

~•~

After packing my belongings, I walked to the Professor's office to say my goodbyes. As I went to knock, he called me in. _Damn those telepaths._

"I'm sorry, my dear. But I could hear your thoughts all the way from your room." He said as I walked in.

"I guess I don't have to tell you I'm leaving for a while." I asked, setting my bag down. "I'll tell you how long when I know the situation."

"Take as much time as you need."

I gave him a questioning look. "Are you sure? I can-"

"Your class will still be here when you return." He chuckled, realizing my other worries. "I'm sure Logan will not torture them too much."

I raised my eyebrows. "Remember last time?"

He smiled. "Everything will be fine."

"Thank you." I stood up and turned to leave. "Goodbye, Chuck."

"Goodbye, Angie. Try not to let Logan rub off on you."

"Can't promise anything!"

~•~

_**This chapter**_'_**s a little short just to kick this party off. I promise that the following chapters are going to be longer than this. **_

_**See you next time!**_

_**/**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Welcome back and hope you enjoy!**_

_**~:~**_

Early the next morning, I arrived at Tony's mansion.

"**Hello, Miss Angie. It is wonderful to have you back,**" greeted JARVIS, as I walked down the steps to the living room. "**Although, I wish it was under better circumstances.**"

"You and me both, JARV." I set my stuff on the couch. "Do you know where Pepper is?"

"**Ms. Potts is currently at Stark Industries with Colonel Rhodes. Would you like me to contact her?**"

"Yes, please," I replied, grabbing my things. "Could you tell her I'll head up there after I get cleaned up?"

"**Of course, miss.**"

I thanked him and went to my room. I threw my things on the bed and left to shower. After changing my clothes, I passed by the mirror and saw my eyes, red and swollen from the tears. _Why, __Tony__? Why? I need you…. _ I wiped a stray tear and quickly put on some makeup. Soon after, I headed towards the garage. After I got in the car, I asked JARVIS to call Pepper.

_"Hello?_"

"Hey, Pepper. I'm on my way."

_"Great,_" she said irritably. "_Maybe you can get through Stane's thick head." _

"What happen- you know what?" I replied "I don't even want to know, see you in a bit."

_"Alright, bye."_

~:~

_"Angie! Over here! Can you comment on Stark's disappearance? What do know about his demonstration?" _

Finally, I pushed through the swarm and walked through the doors. Pepper and Rhodey met me at the door and I gave them a snarky grin.

"They never give up do they?" I joked.

"Well, you are a 'Stark'," Rhodey replied. He walked over and gave me a hug. "How ya doing?"

"Okay, I guess." I let go of him and gave him a look. "And I'm not exactly a….never mind." I grimaced at my attempt of a comeback. I turned to Pepper, who gave me a sad smile.

"I'm glad to see you," she said, hugging me as well. "But not under these circumstances."

I mirrored her smile. "Me too, Pep."

She let go, blinking away her tears, and motioned for me to follow her. "So, let's get you up to speed on everything…" I nodded in reply and followed both of them to Tony's office.

~:~

After we got to Tony's office, Pepper and Rhodey told me all that had happened. After Tony's weapons demonstration, the convoy had been ambushed, and he had been taken in the process. The people who had taken him were a terrorist group called the Ten Rings.

"Okay…." I said, trying to comprehend…._all of this_. I blinked and turned to Rhodey. "How, Rhodey? How in the freakin' hell did this happen?" He looked away not able to answer me.

I could hear him run thousands of apologies through his mind, but could never find one to tell me what I wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry, Rhodey, I-" I let out a deep breath. "What do y'all got so far?"

He shook his head. "Not much, but we're getting close." I nodded in reply and looked down at my hands in my lap. "What's up?"

I looked back up at them with tears in my eyes. "The last time I talked to him, I told him I hated him." They both gave me a sad look.

"We were fighting," I choked, "I don't remember what about, but I told him I hated him." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Before he left for the demo, he texted me, telling me he'd be back so we could work it out. I didn't reply." I shook my head. "He could be dead, and the last thing I said to him was I hated him."

Sobs overtook my body. Pepper rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around me, while Rhodey knelt down and took my hand in his.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Pepper said, as she rubbed her hand up and down my shoulders. "He knows you love him; y'all were just upset." I nodded my head into her shoulder. "Look at me." She lifted my chin to look at her. "This is not your fault, you hear me?" I nodded my head again and hugged her. "But…." _Of course…._

"We do need to talk to you about something. Stane recommends-" My eyes widened.

"No, _heck_, no. I know what you're going to say, so, no." I shook my head. "I cannot run this place." They both gave me a look that said, '_Tony_ _couldn_'_t_', but still. "And yes, I know that Tony couldn't either, but I'm not even a Stark."

"You and I know that's not true, Angie," Rhodey replied. I sighed in reply, _He_'_s right….as always._

"I'm sorry, you two. I can't do this," I repeated. "Not until I know for sure he's gone. Then, we'll see."

"In that case, maybe you could help me," a voice said from the doorway. _Obadiah Stane….Gah! The old jerk. _Let's just blame it on first impressions.

"Until then, Mr. Stane," I drawled, "I will help Pepper and Rhodey with the search for my uncle. Nothing more, nothing less."

"As you wish," he snarled, leaving the room.

"For once, could you get along with him?" Rhodey demanded.

"Him calling me '_the brat_' is enough of any explanation not to," I replied, crossing my arms.

"You were 10. How old are you now? 23?"

"Let's just find Tony and get this over with," I said, turning to leave. "If you could excuse me, I need to make a phone call." I pulled out my phone and dialed the number.

_"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters._"

"Hey, Scott. It's Angie. Is Charles there?"

"_Yeah, let me patch you through._"

"Thanks, Scotty."

_"No problem, Oc." _**Click.**

_"Hello, Angie. How are you?_"

"Could be better, but I'm getting there," I replied. "So, um, I'm going to be out a while. I could be a month or more, but I'm not too sure."

"_I will tell you again: take as much time as you need. And have faith, my dear. You_'_ll find him soon enough._"

"Thanks, Charles. I'll try to keep you updated," I sighed. "Talk to you soon."

"And to you as well." **Click.**

~:~

After I came home, I ran to my room and threw myself on the bed. Sobs rattled my body, guilt and worry overtaking me. _I_'_m so sorry, __Tony_…_.I don_'_t hate you…..Please come back…._

"**Miss Angie, would you like me to order your ****favorite** **takeout for dinner? I hear a nice meal can help soothe individuals in their time of grieving.**"

"That's sounds great, JARV. Could you order me some extra cream cheese thingys, too?"

"**Of course, miss.**" Thirty minutes later, my General Tso's arrived, along with some cream cheese rangoons. As I ate, JARVIS turned on a movie. Half-way through the movie, I began to drift off. Soon, I began to dream.

"_**-They found him. He**_'_**s coming home!-**_"

"_**-Angie?-**_"

"_**-shutting down the weapons manufacturing **__**division**_ _**of Stark Industries-**_"

"_**-why did I trust him?-**_"

"_**-you**_'_**re going to get yourself killed-**_"

"_**-Tony!-**_"

I bolted up with a gasp. _Well, at least he_'_ll be okay. For now. _I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"**Five o**'**clock in the morning, ma**'**am. Oh, and Ms. Potts stopped by. We would have woken you, but Ms. Potts thought we should let you have your rest.**"

"Thanks, what did she come by for?"

"**She wanted to check up on you.**" the AI replied. "**She also said that her and Colonel Rhodes needed to speak with you again today.**"

I grimaced. "At Stark Industries?"

"**No, miss. She said they would bring lunch.**"

I nodded and got up off the couch. "I might as well get up. Turn on something upbeat, please."

JARVIS turned on some music and I began to make some breakfast. After I ate, I showered and got some sort of clothing on. And right on the strike of 12, Pepper and Rhodey strolled in with three boxes of pizza.

"What'd ya get?" I exclaimed, running over and stealing a box from them. They laughed.

"Yours is in here somewhere, Ange," Rhodey said, taking back the box I stole. I pouted and crossed my arms. "Don't act like you haven't eaten. I know what you ate last night."

I raised my brow at this. "How do you know I didn't tell JARVIS to tell you I ate?"

"I didn't ask the AI." He pointed over to the trash. "Checked the trash."

"Gross," I scrunched up my nose. "Now will you please give me my pizza? I'm wasting away over here." They handed me my Barbeque Chicken with Bacon and started eating their own pizzas. "So," I said with my mouth full, "What'd you need to talk to me about? It's not about the company again, is it?"

Pepper shook her head. "We wanted to make sure you were okay. You left in a such a rush yesterday, we were worried," she replied.

"I'm….getting there."

Both of them gave me smiled. "Good…"she said."Do you need to go back to work or anything?"

"My boss understands the situation and said to take as much time as I need. One of my friends is covering for me." I took another bite, "So, no worries." Pepper glared at my disregard for manners. I sheepishly grinned and swallowed my food. "Sorry…." I turned back to my pizza, not feeling hungry anymore. I pushed the box away and rested my head in my hands.

Rhodey closed his box and gave me a worried look. "You sure you're okay?"

"No…." I replied, eyes starting to well up again. "I just realized that for the first time since my mom died, I'm gonna be alone again."

He shook his head, furrowing his brow. "No, you are not. You have us."

Pepper nodded in agreement. "That's one thing that will never change." She cupped her hand under my chin, lifting it to make me look at her. "And don't you forget it."

_**~:~**_

_**Hey guys! This story was one of my firsts and I want to grow as a writer. So, to any of my readers, whether new or old, feedback is wonderful.**_

_**See ya next time!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_THREE __MONTHS__LATER_

"Angie, wake up," Pepper exclaimed, shaking me.

"Wha-What's going on?" I asked sleepily.

"They found him. He's coming home," she beamed.

_Tony…._My eyes widened. "What are we waiting for?" I smiled, jumping out my bed.

~:~

_AIRPORT_

I sat in the limo, my foot tapping the floor in anticipation. Pepper put her hand on my knee.

"Calm down, Angie. He's alive."

"But how much is still him?" Before she could reply, the plane's engines cut her off as it flew overhead. The plane landed and the back opened up. As I got out of the car, I saw him. Same old, stupid him.

His eyes met mine. "Angie…." he croaked, tears brimming his eyes.

I ran to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't mean…."

"Shhh….I know, I know," he said, placing a kiss on my forehead. After we released our grasp, I slapped him. "Oww! What was that for?"

"That's for scaring the crap out of me." Tears started to build up again. "I thought I'd lost you."

He pulled me in another hug. "I know, I'm sorry." He kissed the top of my head. "I'm so glad to be home."

"Me too," I replied, smiling to myself.

He let go of me again and turned to Pepper. "Your eyes are red. Tears for your long, lost boss?"

"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting." I laughed in reply.

"Yeah, well, vacation's over," he snarked. He flung his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, squirt. Let's go."

After we got in the limo, Pepper and Tony started to argue about going to the hospital.

"I have been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do: I want an American cheeseburger and the other-" he said.

"That's enough of that," she replied.

"-is not what you think. I want you to call a press conference. Hogan, drive!"

"A press conference, what-," Pepper questioned.

"Cheeseburger first." Tony nodded to Happy to drive.

Pepper looked at me, pleading for help. I shrugged my shoulders, shaking my head. _There's no stopping him. Especially not right now._

**~:~**

_**STARK INDUSTRIES**_

As we exited the car, we were greeted by a round of applause. Stane walked up to Tony arms open wide and hugs him. He gave me a weird look as he looked over Tony's shoulder. _That_'_s odd…._ A wave of nausea hit me as I passed him.

_**-Two robotic suits fought over a warehouse. Suddenly the red suit was hit and dangled from the beams-  
\- "How ironic, Tony! Trying to free the world of weapons, you gave it the best one ever!"-  
**__  
_I gasped. _What are you up to, Stane?_

We walked through the doors and towards the press conference. Pepper and I stood by to watch as Tony and Stane walked towards the podium.

"Ms. Potts, Ms. Jarvis," said a man. "Can I speak with you a moment?"

"We're not a part of the press conference," Pepper replied, shaking her head. "But it is about to begin."

"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division." He hand her a card.

"That's quite a mouthful," Pepper quipped.

The agent gave her a smile. "I know. We're working on it."

"You know we have already been approached by the DOD, FBI, CIA-"

"We're a separate division with a more….specific focus," he replied. "We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

She nodded in reply. "I'll put something in the book. Shall I?"

"Thank you," Agent Coulson said, bidding us farewell. Before I could speak to the agent, Obadiah began the press conference. I tuned to his mind, as I listened. _Come on Stane, what do you know?_

Tony motioned for everyone to sit down, so he and they could see him. _Even though there are NO chairs_.

"I never got to say goodbye to my father. And the same almost happened to my niece. There's questions I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of man we remember from the newsreels."

"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become a part of a system that is comfortable with zero-accountability."

A scrawny reporter raised his hand. "What happened over there, Mr. Stark?" Tony looked at me, then back to the reporter.

"I had my eyes opened. I can to realize that I had more to offer to this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries."

The crowd erupted with flashes of cameras. Obadiah went to the podium trying to calm them. My hand went to my head. _The voices! Gah- shut them out!_ I tried to tune to Stane's mind again, but the voices clouded the link.

Pepper put her hand on my shoulder, giving me a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah….I gonna go get some air." She gave me a small nod in reply. I turned and walked away, rubbing my temples. _Every time…._ I turned down the hall and saw the agent from before the conference. I walked up to him. "Agent Coulson, was it?" I held out my hand.

"Yes, miss," he answered shaking my hand. "How can I help you?"

"Call me Angie." I glanced at Obadiah, then back at the agent. "Keep a watch on Stane. I have this really weird feeling that he has something to do with my uncle's disappearance."

"From what my sources tell me, you really don't like him." He raised a brow, questioningly. "Are you sure it's not out of hatred?"

_Why do people always…._"I'm sure, Agent Coulson. Usually, my gut is right." I gave him a pleading look. "Can you at least watch out for him?"

"We'll look into it," he replied, nodding. "You have a nice day, Angie."

"You too."

~:~

"_Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Sell, sell, sell! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg __ring_ _any bells? Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan! Look, that's a weapons company that does__n't_ _make weapons!_"

I rolled my eyes at the news reports. Suddenly, Tony came over the tablet comm.

_**"Pepper, Angie, how big are y'alls **__**hands**__**?**_" We gave each other a look and Pepper turned back to him.

"I don't understand, why?"

"_**Just get down here.**_" **Click.**

She turned to me and raised her brows. I held my hands up.

"Don't look at me…"

~:~

"Don't ever, EVER, make me do anything like that again," Pepper threatened.

"I don't have anyone but you two," he smiled.

I shook my head. "So what do want to do with the old one?" I held up the reactor.

"Destroy it. Incinitrate it," Tony said.

Pepper asked, "You don't want to keep it?"

Looking at us, he said, "I've been called many things. Nostalgic is not one of them."

"Alrighty then. I'll go do that," I said as I walked towards the door. My phone buzzed.

_I know you're busy right now, but we have a situation.-Logan_

I put my phone back in my pocket. "I gotta go."

"But you just got here," pleaded Tony.

I saw the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Uncle Tony. I have to. There's an emergency. Plus, I've already been away from the school too long. They've been generous enough to give me this long."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's probably because your boyfriend covered for you."

"He's not my-" I groaned. "Look, I'll be back. I just have to take care of some things, _kapeesh_?"

"Okay, fine. Go bore kids to death over catching up with your old decrepit uncle," He said dramatically.

"Seriously, you're just as bad as those kids, " I groaned. "Bye, Tony." As I walked up the stairs, I pulled out my phone and called the school.

_"Xavier's School."_

"Hey, it's Angie."

_"Finally, the mighty Oculus calls,"_ Logan said.

I rolled my eyes. "What's the situation? This better not be you trying to get out of babysitting again."

_"Hey! The first time I babysat, the school got attacked. I'm not doing that again, " _he exclaimed. _"And, no, that is not the situation. We got a new kid and he's pretty beat up. He wo__n't_ _let anyone touch him. We had to sedate him to get him here."_

"What's he got?"

_"He can control light or photons or some kind of science stuff Hank will have to explain. I guess you'll __figure_ _it out when you get here. "_

"Alrighty, then," I replied. "I'm getting ready to leave. So, I be there late tonight or in the morning. Tell them to keep him sedated till I get there."

_"You got it. See ya when you get here."_

"You too. Bye." I clicked the call off and headed to my room . After I grabbed my stuff, I headed towards the living room. Pepper handed me a bag full of snacks and drinks.

"Here's this for the road. Stay safe."

I smiled. "I'll try to. And, I'll be back soon. Just call me if something comes up before then."

"I will." After we hugged each other goodbye, I went to the garage and left.

~:~

_**XAVIER'S SCHOOL**_

After I had settled in, I rushed back to the Professor's office. There I met with Hank and a few others who helped bring the young mutant in.

"If he can control light, why couldn't Scott or Alex or anyone like him subdue him? "

"That is what we're trying to figure out. But as Logan told you, he lashes out ," the Professor replied. "We hope you will be able to calm him. "

"I don't know, Charles. Both you and Jean are stronger than me." I sighed. "Why me? I still can't control my powers."

"Every kid who comes in this school loves you, Angie," Jean said. "What's different with this one?"

~:~

Once we got to the lab, Hank and Jean slowly took the mutant off sedation. They left me with him, and I waited as he started to wake up. His eyes began to blink open, and started to struggle against the bed.

"Hey, buddy. It's okay, no one's here to hurt you." He kept struggling and I placed my hand on his arm. _"I can't let you out, if you do__n't_ _calm down, __Buddy__. " _He jumped in shock.

**[Spanish]**

"**You're in my head! Get out!"**

"Wait…" I muttered. "**You speak Spanish?" **He nodded in reply. _No wonder why he…. _"**Sorry for scaring you. No one meant to; we're just here to help." **

**"W-Where am I?"** the mutant asked.

"You're at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.'"

He narrowed his eyes. **"How do I know I can trust you?"**

**"Because of I did****n't** **trust you, I would****n't** **be in here alone. Now, will you let me take these restraints off and try to have a civil conversation with me? "** He nodded in reply and I undid the restraints. **"Now that those are off****...****"** I held out my hand. **"I'm Angie. What's your name? "** He hesitantly took my hand and shook it.

**"Marcos****...****.Marcos Dias."**

**~:~**

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. Life's just tough I guess.**

**P.S.- For all the Spanish speakers, I apologize for the way I am writing Marcos' dialogue. I attempted to translate, but for many reasons I stuck with putting it in bold. (All 2-1/2 years of Spanish has definitely been wasted.)**

**See y'all next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**~:~**_

_**Some time later….**_

"**I….I don**'**t know if I can do this….**"

I gave the young mutant a small smile. "**It**'**s okay, Marcos. I know you can. Take a deep breath and focus.**"

He nodded his head and held his palms out. He closed his eyes and his palms began to glow. The lights in the room began to dim in and out. Suddenly, they shattered. He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"**I told you I couldn**'**t do this.**" I reached to take his hand in mine. He pull it away. "**Don**'**t touch me. I don**'**t want to hurt you.**"

"**It**'**s okay. You won**'**t hurt me.**" He wrapped his arms around himself and turned away. "**Marcos, I-**"

**Bzzz. Bzzz.** I sighed at the interruption.

"**I**'**ll be right back.**" Walking out of the training room, I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

_**I know you just got settled back into work, but we have a problem- Pepper.**_

"Not again…." I groaned. I turned to walk back in the room and saw that Marcos was gone.

"I sent him to get cleaned up." Logan said from behind me.

"Logan…I-" **RING****! **"I'm sorry I have to go."

"What's the rush, Ange? Got a hot date or something," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "I have to get out of here; have to make sure the old man hasn't killed  
himself."

Logan chuckled. "I doubt that. That girl of his would have called."

"She did, Logan," I replied. "I gotta go tell Charles I'm leaving." I knew he sensed something was wrong, and he grabbed my arm before I could get too far.

"You've been having those dreams again, haven't you?"I nodded my head in shame. It was no use to lie to him; he would know.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Logan. Don't worry about me," I answered.

His face reddened. "Nothing my ass, Angie. How long?" Logan's eyes pierced through me.

"Since I went back to Malibu," I confessed, staring at the ground.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he boomed. "You-"

I put up my hand to stop him. "I know, Logan," I whispered, tearfully. "I'm sorry, I just- ." **Bzzz. Bzzz.**

_**Call me, now!- Pepper.**_

"I'm sorry, Logan. I have to go. You can yell at me when I get back."

Putting a hand on my shoulder, he said, "Look. I just don't want you to-" _Get hurt. _

"I know. It's okay," I nodded. "Can you tell Scott to take over Marcos' training till I get back?"

"Tell him yourself," he replied, motioning behind me.

Scott stood with his arms crossed. "You think that's a good idea, Oc?"

"Yeah, Cy, I am. I'll talk to him before I go." I walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of him for me."

"For you, always." I smiled in reply, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Scotty. Plus, you'll get to brush up on your spanish."

He snorted. "The Professor was right; you have been hanging around Logan too much." I smacked him on the arm as I walked away.

"Shut up, One-Eye!"

After I spoke to the Professor, I went to my room and grabbed my things. I walked down the stairs towards the lobby and saw Marcos sitting in the bay window. I set my stuff by the doorway and walked in.

"**Let me guess****...****You**'**re leaving.**" he said, never looking away from the window.

"**Yeah, just for a little while,**" I replied. "**I have a family emergency to deal with….again.**"

He snorted. "**I know you**'**re leaving because of me. You don**'**t have to lie.**"

"**Marcos, that is not true.**"

"**That**'**s what they all say…**" he got up from his seat and tried to walk out of the room. I held and arm out stopping him.

"**What's that supposed to mean?"**

He shook his head. "**My parents, all the foster parents, basically every adult in my life: they always say it's not me but it always is."**

"**Well, ****I am not them. If I was, you wouldn**'**t be here.**" I placed my hand on his cheek. "**I care about you very much, Marcos. I just don**'**t want to see you fail.**"

He nodded his head in reply. "**How long?**"

"**I don**'**t know, bud,**" I replied, pulling him into a hug. "**Don**'**t worry, I**'**ll be back. I promise.**"

He returned my hug. "**I**'**m sorry, for….everything.**"

"**I am too, ****buddy****, I am too.**"

~:~

_STARK __MANSION_

"What the-," I shrieked as I walked into Tony's workshop.

He spun around in his chair, a smile plastered across his face. "Angie! What….are you doing here?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I leave for two months, _TWO __MONTHS_! And what are you doing?! I thought you were done building weapons?"

"It isn't. This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless." As he said this, the repulsor went off, blasting him into the wall. "I didn't expect that."

I stood there with my arms crossed, shaking my head. "You're lucky it was me and not Pepper. She would've had a heart attack." I walked over to him.

He reluctantly nodded, and went back to his work. "So, how've you been?"

"Good, until I got a text from Pepper saying there was a problem," I replied crossing my arms.

"I'm still in one piece, aren't I?" He gestured to himself. "But it's still nice to know you still care, even if you think I'm a senile, old coot."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, old man. What are you doing that required a Pepper-grade Code Red?"

He took off the repulsor, setting it on the table in front of him. Tony let out a shaky breath. "Do you remember what I said at the press conference?" When I nodded, he continued, "I created something that destroyed so many lives. Now, I want to fix that by creating something that saves lives."

I nodded, now fully understanding. "Your building that suit, aren't you?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"I….uh….you kinda talk in your sleep," I lied.

"Oh...well, yes, I am. Just don't tell anyone." He gave me a pleading look. "I really need this to be top secret."

I sighed. "Alright, just….be careful." I started to leave the room but remembered, "Oh, and Obadiah's upstairs with pizza. Which means something went wrong."

"I'll be up there in a bit," he replied, turning back to his work. I shook my head and started back up the stairs. Once I entered the living area, I saw Obadiah sitting on the couch. "Where's Pepper?"

"She had to take a call."

I sat down in the armchair across from him, watching his odd demeanor. I gave him a once-over. "Obadiah, I don't know what exactly you're up to, but I will figure it out and you will fail."

"No, you won't," the man chuckled in reply. "Wouldn't want Tony finding out your little secret, would you?"

My eyes widened. "How- I mean, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, really? Well-." Pepper walked back into the room.

She looked at the both of us. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Obadiah replied. "We were just catching up."

I forced a smile. "Yeah, just catching up."

Pepper opened her mouth to speak, but Tony walked into the room.

"Obie! How'd the meeting go?" He looked at the pizza on the table, then back at Obadiah. "That bad, huh?"

"Just because I brought pizza back doesn't mean it went bad." Both me and Tony raised a brow in reply.

"Sure it doesn't," we said in unison.

"It would have gone better if one of y'all were there," Obadiah said.

Tony took a bite of his slice. "You told me to lay low, and that's what I've been doing."

"And you already know where I stand," I added.

"In public. The press, Tony. This was a _board of directors_ meeting."

"A what?" me and Tony asked, again in unison.

"The board is claiming post-traumatic stress, and they're filing an injunction."

"A _what_?" I shrieked. "They can't do that!"

Obadiah turned to Tony, ignoring my outburst. "They want to lock you out."

"Why 'cause the stocks dipped 40 points?" Tony argued.

"Fifty-six and a half," Pepper corrected him.

"It doesn't matter. We own the controlling interest in the company."

All their emotions clouded my head. I really needed to get out of here. Their voices slowly drowned out as I walked toward my room. Finally, as the voices calmed, I said," Hey, JARVIS?"

**"Yes, Miss Angie?" **

"Can you get me the feed from the living room, please?"

"**Of course, miss.**"

_"Tony, I'm trying to turn this thing around for you. But you got to give me something. Something to pitch them," _Obadiah said. He pointed to the arc,_" Let me have that. I'll have the scientists look at it and- ."_

"_Absolutely not, this one stays with me. That's it, Obie, forget it."_

"Okay, that's enough, JARVIS," I sighed, letting out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

**"You're welcome, miss,"** the AI replied, shutting off the feed.

**Knock. ****Knock****. Knock.**

I turned to the door. "Come in!"

"Hey," Pepper held up the plate in her hand. "I brought you some pizza in case you were still hungry."

I smiled and took the plate from her. "Thanks…." I set it on the table and rubbed my temples.

"Your head still bothering you?" I nodded in reply.

"From time to time, but most of it's just stress."

She nodded in understanding. "Look, I know it's hard for you and Tony right now. You almost lost him, but you need to remember so did we." Pepper sighed, looking at me tearfully.

"I realize that Pep, it's not Tony being back that's hard. It's Obadiah," I said grabbing my computer. "All the things he's done since Tony's been back. First at the press conference and then what just happened in there." I started typing and looked up at her. "He's up to something, Pepper, and I need to get to the bottom of it."

She shook her head. "Do you hear yourself, Angie? You're just as bad as Tony, right now," she said pointing towards the door. "I thought that you would've got over what Obadiah did over the years, but it's clear you haven't."

"This isn't a grudge against him, Pepper. I just have a bad feeling about him and his intentions with..."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "That's what it is: a feeling. Not _fact,_ a feeling." She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. "I just don't want to see you to kill yourself over some white rabbit."

I stopped typing. "Pepper it's more than a feeling. It's hard to explain. I- ." She gave me a look that told me to just stop.

"End this now." She turned and walked out the door, slamming the door behind her.

I set my computer down and laid back with a sigh. I couldn't just tell her how I knew. _That would__...__I do__n't_ _know what._ It may be good, but it could also be the end.

**Ring….****Ring**…**.**

"Hello?" I answered, rubbing my eyes.

_"Hey, Ange. You okay?" _

"I'm fine, Logan. The professor put you up to this?"

"_No, I….yes, but that_'_s not why. We_'_ve been trying to call you but you haven_'_t been answering._"

I sat up quickly. "What happened? Is it Marcos?"

"_Nothing happened. One-__Eye_ _did want some feedback on the kid_'_s training._"

"Then, why make it sound like it's the end of the world again?"

"_It_'_s more fun,_" Logan replied. "_You doing_' _okay?_"

"It's….complicated. I know Obadiah is up to something. But I can't just tell them how."

_"Why not? Maybe it_'_s time they knew instead of being lied to."_

"You know why, Logan. Tony will-"

"_That_'_s what you_'_re worried about? Being your __uncle'__s pet project?_" Logan exclaimed. "_He should be the least of your worries._"

I huffed in defeat. "You're right….But that doesn't mean I'll tell them."

"_At least you admitted I was right. What do you want me to tell the others?_"

"I'll call Scott later. Just tell them I'm fine and I said 'hi'," I replied.

"_You got it. Also, Angie, don_'_t think our conversation is over._"

I smiled. "I know. Talk to ya later."

"_Yeah._" **Click.**

**~:~**

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the next chapter later today!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the second update of the day. Hope you enjoy!**

~:~

It was the night of the Charity Event. We didn't expect for Tony to go, but I wanted to be there in his honor. I slipped on my floor-length black dress, embellished with silver chevron stripes, and my silver pumps. My makeup was neutral and my hair was left down in loose waves.

There was a knock at the door and Pepper walked in.

"You ready?" I nodded in reply, smoothing out any wrinkles in my dress. She walked up behind me and place her hands on my shoulders. "You look wonderful," she said with a smile.

"What's that?" I asked, having noticed a package in her hands.

"It's for Tony," she replied. "I was on my way to give it to him before we left."

"Why don't I bring it to him? That way you can freshen up." She shrugged in reply.

"Alright. Careful though, it's fragile."

I gave her a smile. "Yes, ma'am."

I left the room and walked down to the lab.

As I walked down the steps, I heard a high pitched whistle.

"Who is that beautiful young lady walking into my lab?"

I blushed. "Thanks, Uncle Tony. Wish you were coming. I really don't look forward to dancing with all those board members." I shivered. "They give me the creeps." He noticed the item in my hands.

"What's that?"

"Pepper told me to give you this," I replied, handing him the package.

He opened it; it was his old arc reactor. _"Proof that __Tony_ _Stark has a heart._"  
I smiled. _Same as the day I met her._

~:~

_**YEARS **__**EARLIER**_

_"Uncle __Tony__, wait up," fifteen-year-old me yelled as I hobbled on my crutches._

_He turned around grinning. "Sorry, kid. Not my fault you had to take the swan dive down the stairs."_

_"Not your fault. HA! You left your junk there. It is 100 percent your fault," I argued, finally catching up._

_"Actually, it's more like 12 percent my fault; you did the rest of the work," he said __walking_ _into his office._

_"Mr. Stark, it's time for your 11 o'clock," said a __red__-headed woman._

_"Ah, Angie. I'd like you to meet my new assistant, Pepper Potts."_

_The woman smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said shaking my hand._

_"You too. Good luck babysitting this dork," I replied._

_Pepper laughed, her __blue_ _eyes sparkling. "I'm going to need all the luck I can get."_

_"Well, while I bore myself with corporate talk, why do__n't_ _you two get to know each other," he said, nodding._

_As he walked off, Pepper asked, "Is he always like this?"_

_Shaking my head, I replied, "No, he's much, much worse." I giggled as I saw her eyes widen. "I'm kidding. Well, sort of."_

_"I think you and I will get along just fine," she said, smiling._

_"Me too, Pepper." I sat down on the sofa. "So, Pepper, I have an odd feeling that's not your name. Did __Tony_ _give you it?_"

_She smiled," Oh do I have a story to tell you. Well__...__" _

_~:~_

"_Angie…._Angie!"

I blinked my eyes, breaking myself from my daze. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Nothing," he replied. "Just saw you spaced out over there. What's up?"

I shook my head. "Just remembered something. I guess I need to get out of here."

"You have fun!" he called out, waving goodbye as I left.

~:~

_**CHARITY EVENT**_

After dancing with a couple of the board members, I escaped to the bar.

"Miss Jarvis, pleasure seeing you here."

I spun around towards the voice. "Agent Coulson, care to join me?" I asked, motioning to the seat next to me. "Drinks on me." I held a hand up for the bartender and he brought us to glasses of whiskey.

"Never knew you were one to drink," he said, quirking a brow.

"Only a little. I got…" I counted off the numbers in my head, "four more directors to dance with tonight. The little creeps."

"Awww, I'm hurt how low you think of me," Obadiah cut in. "I'm glad to see you here, Angie, for Tony and all." He held out a hand. "Shall we?"

I gave him my best fake smile and took his hand, letting him pull me out to the dance floor. As we danced, I tried my best not to glare at him. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, I think you already know, " he said, quietly. "With your gifts and all." He chuckled. "Everytime I'm in a room with you, I feel a slight prick in my head. Like someone is looking for something. And when our eyes lock in, you look away and that feeling stops."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't think I didn't see your little scene at the press conference." He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Stay out of this, Angie. I wouldn't want you to have to get hurt because you put your nose in something you shouldn't." My heartbeat quickened and I could hear the blood pulsing in my head. "So….keep your mouth shut. Or you'll be what you fear Tony could make you." And with that he let go of me and walked away.

_**\- "How ironic, Tony! Trying to free the world of weapons, you gave it the best one ever!"-**_

I stood there frozen, till I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Miss Jarvis, are you alright?"

I blinked my eyes and turned to the agent. "Yeah, I'm okay….Have you looked into Stane?"

"We did," Coulson replied. "But nothing came of it. If there is anything going on, he sure knows how to cover it up." I nodded, grateful that they didn't think I was insane.

"What if I was able to get proof?"

He tilted his head. "Then we could pursue it further." He turned his head towards the bar. "It looks like Tony Stark showed up after all." I looked over there with wide eyes, motioning for him to follow me.

As we walked up, I placed my hands on my hips and glared at the billionaire. "Anthony Edward Stark, what are you doing here?"

"It's my Charity Gala, isn't it?" He replied with his trademark grin. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever...And this fed needs to speak with you," I jabbed my thumb at the agent. "Pepper hasn't put it on the books yet."

Phil nodded. "I'm Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

Tony gave him a look. "You need a new name."

"We hear that a lot," he smiled. "Sir, we need to debrief you. There are still many unanswered questions we have. How about next Monday?"

Tony's gaze caught Pepper, and he ignored the man. "Sounds great. Let me go talk to my assistant and well schedule that," he said excusing himself.

Turning to me, Coulson asked, "Is he always like this?"

I laughed. "You do not know how many times I've been asked that." From the corner of my eye, i saw Tony and Pepper had walk out. "Excuse me; I need to take care of something. It was wonderful seeing you again, Agent Coulson."

"And you as well, Miss."

I smiled and walked towards the not-so-happy couple. As I approached Tony and Pepper, I could overhear them arguing.

"It's just a dance," Tony said.

Suddenly, they leaned in to kiss each other, but Pepper stops. _WHat the heck!_

"I would like a drink. Vodka martini; extra dry with a lot of olives."

"Got it," he said walking back inside.

As he passed by me, I asked, "Everything okay?"He shrugged and continued walking towards the bar. When he got to the bar, he was approached by a woman. She suddenly handed him something, his expression hardened and he stormed off. Trailing him, I saw him approach Obadiah.

_"Let's take a picture."_ As Obadiah and Tony posed themselves, Obi murmured into his ear.

"_Who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you. It was the only way I could protect you."_

And he walked off, leaving Tony frozen.

I rushed over to Tony. "Tony?" He handed me the pictures: The death, the destruction. And the Stark name plastered right on it.

"That's Gulmira, Yinsen's village." I could feel the anger exuding from his mind. "Obie was the one who filed the injunction with the board." My eyes darkened. _That's not all, Tony. _ "God, why did I trust him?" He turned and stormed off.

_Oh….It's on now, Stane…._

~:~

"_**Angie, where's Tony?" **_Rhodey asked.

"Down in the lab. Why?" I asked, closing the book I was reading.

"_**Are you sure about that? Go look there now." **_ I reached out and couldn't feel him. So i got up and walked down to the lab and found it empty.

"Rhodey, I…"

"_**That's what I thought."**_ **Click.**

_Thanks, Tony. Now I have another "family" member mad at me._

Something flew into the lab, the faceplate revealing it was Tony.

"Anthony Edward Stark…."

"Anja Stefanie Jarvis….it's not what it looks like," he replied. "Oww, oww, oww."

"**Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."**

He winced, "Be gentle, this is my first time. I designed this to come off."

_****_"**Please try not to move."**

"Tony!"

"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." I looked down and saw the holes covering the machine.

_Are those bullet holes?_

_~:~_

**So...I meant to update earlier, but a semi-important event happened (the JoBros reunited, no biggie...) and I kinda went into the YouTube black-hole (again...)**

**No worries, I will update again sometime this week to finish out Iron Man as we get closer to the inevitable war in her visions.**

**See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't know how long I can do this, Angie." Pepper slammed her files on the counter. "I'm not going to sit around and watch him kill himself." I tried calming her mind, but her emotions canceled me out.

"Pepper, he's going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay." She shook her head in disagreement.

"You keep saying that. But here are things you will never know." I closed my eyes, praying for some sort of guidance.

I took a deep breath, silently regretting what I was about to do. "Whatever I say to you right now, promise that you will never say anything to anyone. Not even Tony."

She gave me a confused look, but nodded. "Alright."

"Do you know why I chose Xavier's?" Pepper shook her head. "I chose them because they could teach me how to use my skills to better society. In my case, I…. _Can read people's' minds and communicate with them,_" I explained, speaking the last part in her head and causing her to jump.

"You see that cabinet door?" I shut it telekinetically, casing her to jump in shock. "I can also see _some _things before they happen."

Pepper ran her hand through her hair, eyes and mouth open wide.

"The visions show what will occur or warn me of something that could happen," I continued. "That's how I know Obadiah is up to something, and it isn't good."

She shook her head. "Angie…."

"I hear your thoughts; and, you're right, they could be wrong. But I have to listen to them, they haven't steered me wrong yet."

"Why haven't you told Tony? You always tell him everything, unless..." Her eyes widened, slowly realizing why.

"I tell him everything because of this? Yes." Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. "Where I come from, people have been killed because others want to know how we exist. People are afraid of what they do not understand. I never told him because I was afraid. Afraid that he would be just like them and i couldn't risk that."

"Look at me." Pepper took my face in her hands. "The new Tony wouldn't do that. But I'm not so sure about the old. One thing I know for sure is that he loves you no matter what. Don't you ever forget that." She wrapped her arms around me.

I nodded in reply, hugging her back. "JARVIS?"

**"Yes, miss."**

"Erase all footage of this room since me and Pepper started talking. Replace it with the stock footage I gave you." I turned back to her "I'm sorry Pep, I have to do this."

She nodded in understanding, and I thanked her.

**"Footage erased, miss."** The AI reported

"Thanks, JARV." I replied

Pepper put a hand on arm. "I'll keep this between us for now. But you have to tell him one day. He's your uncle, and I would hate to see you two split because of it."

"I will, when I'm ready." I went over to the kitchen and grabbed a coke. "So, what did Tony do to piss you off?"

"He wants me to hack the Stark mainframe."  
~:~

_**NEXT MORNING**_

I sat down in the lobby, waiting for Pepper to come down from Obadiah's office.

"Ms. Jarvis."

I jumped. "Coulson! Don't do that."

He laughed at my scare. "Sorry..." I rolled my eyes. "Where's Ms. Potts? I have an appointment with her and your uncle."

"Um, she's in the-"

**Bzzz… "I thought you were watching for Stane! He caught me up here. I'll be right down."**

I turned and smiled at the agent. "Headed down right now."

The elevator dinged and Pepper walked out.

"Ms. Potts? We have an appointment. Did you forget about our appointment?"Coulson called out to Pepper.

"Nope." She motioned for us to come with her. "Right now, come with me. I'll give you the meeting of your life. Your office."

I linked with her mind. "_What's going on?"_

Giving me a side glance, she replied. "_You were right. Obadiah arranged Tony's kidnapping. He was going to have him killed. You too." _My eyes bulged in shock.

_That's it…..._"Pep, I'm calling Rhodey to come pick me up to go check on Tony." I pulled out my phone, dialing and held it up to my ear.

"Okay, just be safe." The car sped off, tires screeching. My chest tightened; something was definitely wrong.

_**"Hello?"**_

"Rhodey, where are you?"

_**"I'm about a two blocks from Stark Industries. Why?"**_

"I'm there right now. I need you to bring me to Tony's. Something's wrong. Pepper hacked Obadiah's computer and found that he had paid the Ten Rings to kill Tony at the weapons demo and-." I rubbed my chest, trying to soothe the pain.

_**"What do you mean he paid to have Tony killed?"**_

I cringed. "Obadiah was going to kill me too if I took over."

_**"Slow down. Why would Obadiah…" **_

"I don't know, Rhodey! Just get here," I shouted.

_**"Okay, I'm turning the corner now." **_His car pulled up, screeching to a stop. "Get In!"

I jumped in shouting for him to drive. "Where is Tony now?"

"I don't know." I pulled out my phone attempting to call Tony. "He's not answering."

"Keep trying!"

~:~

"Tony? Tony!"

I ran towards the lab. "Uncle Tony?!" As I hit the end of the stairs, I found Tony unconscious. "Rhodey, help!"

Rhodey ran down. "Tony, wake up, man!"

He gasped back into consciousness, and the tightness in my chest loosened.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked as we helped Tony sit up.

"Where's Pepper?" he grunted.

"She's fine. She and five agents are on their way to arrest Obadiah," I said.

"That's not gonna be enough." He scrambled to his feet and headed toward his suit.

The suit started to assemble around him.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen, "Rhodey said in awe.

Tony smirked,"Not bad, huh? Let's do it."

I nervously bit my thumb. "Tony, are you positive you know what you're doing?"

He nodded. "I'll come back, I promise."

"You and I are going to have a really long conversation when you get back."

"Don't you mean 'if'," he asked.

"No, I don't. Tony," I choked, "when Pepper called me to tell me you were missing, a part of me died inside. You are all I have left of Mom, and I am not going to let you die on me. You come back to me or, so help me, I will bring you back so I can kill you myself."

"I'll be back, I promise." He walked over and placed a kiss on my head. "I owe that to you. Now more than ever." He turned to his friend. "Rhodey, take care of her."

Rhodey smiled, putting an arm around my shoulder. "You got it. Ya need me to do anything else?"

His mask shut closed, "Keep the skies clear,"and the suit took off.

"Damn," Rhodey said, watching Tony fly off.

I giggled, "I know right." I ran over to the _Stark 4 _and saw him staring at a prototype. "Hey, come on we gotta go!"

He gave it one last look and I swore I heard him mutter, "Next time, baby."

~:~

_**AIR FORCE BASE**_

"Sir, you're not going to believe this. That thing is back."

"Get me major Allen. Scramble the jets!"

Rhodey walked over and put down his hand on the receiver. "Not necessary, people. Just a training exercise."

The operator nodded whispering a "yes, sir."

I looked away from the screen to him, who gave me a nod. Nodding back, I turned back to the screen watching Tony and Stane ascend. _This isn't going to be good._

Suddenly, Stane's suit deactivated, hurling towards land.

The Mark II started shutting down, causing Tony to crash land.

I rushed over to the operator, barking, "Do you have eyes on them?"

"No, miss," he replied. "We lost them after they crashed."

Rolling my eyes, I called Pepper.

_**"Angie!"**_

"What's going on?"

_**"Stane and Tony are fighting. Tony's running low on power, he needs to get out of the suit now!"**_

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Where are you?"

_**"Section 16."**_

"I'm on my way."

_**"What are you going to do?"**_

I laughed. "Pepper, I was raised by some of the greatest minds of our day. I think I can figure something out."

"_**Just hurry."**_

"I will, bye."

I glanced at Rhodey and motioned him to throw me the keys.

"Stay safe, kid." he said. Catching them, I gave him a smile.

"I will, Rhodey. Keep the skies clear."

"You got it." he said, saluting me.

I got in the car and sped towards the factory.

"JARVIS, patch me through to Tony."

~:~

_**Here part one of this weekends update. Stay tuned for more!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Here's the second part, you guys! Enjoy, and see you next time!**_

_**~:~**_

(A/N: _italics_ is Tony; _**bold italics**_ is Pepper)

"Tony?"

_"Angie!"_

"Talk to me. What do you want me to do?"

_"My weapons systems are down. Repulsors, flares, everything."_

My eyes widened. _Aww shoot!_

_"This isn't working. JARVIS! Call Potts"_

_**"Tony!"**_

_"Okay Angie's on her way. We're gonna need to overload the reactor and blast the roof."_

_**"How are we going to do that?"**_

_"Y'all are. Go to the central console, open up bolt of circuits. When I clear the roof, I'll let you know and you're gonna hit the master bypass button. That's gonna fry everything up here."_

"Okay, I'm coming up on Section 16. Be there in a bit, Pep."

Once I got inside, Pepper and I went to the console.

Pepper said, "Okay, we're going in now."

_"Make sure you wait till I clear the roof, I'll buy you some time."_

We hurried to turn on all the breakers and switches.

"It's ready, Uncle Tony. Get off the roof." Suddenly, there was gunfire, glass shattering. Tony dangled from the beams.

"Tony!"

In my mind I heard Obadiah yell, _"How ironic, Tony! Trying to free the world of weapons, you gave it the best one ever!"_

"Pepper!" Tony yelled.

_"And now...I'm gonna kill you with it!" _Obadiah launched a missile at Tony.

"Hit the button!" Tony shouted.

"You told me not to!" Pepper screamed back.

"Just do it!"

Tears streamed from her eyes. "You'll die!" Another missile hit the roof.

"Push it!"

I hit the button and we ran as the reactor started to overload. It blasted through the roof, shooting into the night sky. I looked back and saw Stane fall into the reactor, causing the building to explode into flames.

"Where's Tony?"

Her eyes grew wide, frantically searching for him.

We searched and searched, until we finally spotted his unconscious body.

I put my fingers to his neck. "He's all right. Let's get him out of here."

_**~:~**_

_**STARK INDUSTRIES**_

As we waited for Tony's "official" statement, Rhodey informed the press of the incident last night. (Well, what Coulson told him to say.) _**"We've all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last night have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the Arc reactor."**_

Coulson walked up to me handed me a packet. "For you, Miss Jarvis."

"Me?" I asked.

"Your alibi," he replied. "You went back to work. School emergency."

I nodded. _Wait- how do you…._

"There's nothing about Stane here."

"That's being handled. He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety records," the agent replied.

"And the whole thing about it being a bodyguard. That's not going to hold up."

Coulson smiled. "This isn't my first rodeo, Jarvis. Just stick to the official statement and soon this will all be behind you."

"I'll show you out." I said to the agent, motioning towards the door. As we walked down the hall, I stopped in front of him, arms crossed. "How do you know about the school I work at?"

"That's classified. But I can tell you that it's for a good reason."

I glared at the man, trying to find a logical reason why. But he knew just as much as I did about him: _nothing more than our employers._

"Stay out of it, Agent Coulson. SHIELD has no idea of what their getting into."

He shrugged. "Noted. But don't think we won't ever come to them for help."

"Stay away from them." I growled. "There's a reason why no one knows about them."

"And what's that?"

"Classified."

**_~:~_**

"And now Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking any questions, thank you." Rhodey motioned to Tony as he walked away from the podium.

"It's been a while since I was in front of you,I figure I'll stick to the cards this time," Tony began, the reporters laughing.

"There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on a freeway and the rooftop... "

A reporter interrupted. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit, that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that..."

"I know that it's confusing," he interjected. "It is one thing to question the official story, and another entirely to make wild accusations or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

I face-palmed. _What are you doing?_

"I never said you're a superhero," she replied.

"You didn't?" _Oh, crap._ I heard him think. "Well, good, because that would be outlandish and...fantastic.I'm just not the hero type,clearly. With this...long list of character defects and all the mistakes I've made, largely in public," he stammered.

Rhodey went up to him, whispering to stick to the cards.

"Yeah, the truth is..." He stared into the crowd.

I shook my head no, mouthing, _"Don't do it!"_

"I am Iron Man."

Cameras flashed and reporters shouted.

I ran over to Pepper.

"What do we do?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. He's already made up his mind."

_**~:~**_

_**STARK MANSION (NO ONE'S POV)**_

_"You're an idiot, you know that?"_ Angie shouted through the phone.

"Ange-"Tony warned.

_"I don't want to talk to you right now, Tony. You're-."_

_**"Welcome home, sir….."**_ the AI slurred. Tony noticed a figure standing in the living room.

"Sorry, I gotta go."

_"Don't you dare!" _**Click.**

"'I am Iron Man.'You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet." A man said.

"Who the heck are you?"

The figure came into the light. "Nick Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Ah." Tony nodded

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."

_**~:~**_


	8. Chapter 8

~:~

_**There were aliens covering the skies. The Mark 2 flew up above. A man dressed in a flag threw a shield. Another wore a cape and had a hammer in his hand. A roar broke through the chaos,, red hair flashing across my vision, an arrow flying past my face. A man in a green coat commanded the armies as I watched the heroes fall. **_

I bolted awake, the images shaking me to my core. I knew whatever was coming; it was going to be big and I was going to be right in the middle of it. _This planet is definitely in for it…._

~:~

I came up to the Professor's door and held my fist up to knock.

"Come in, Anja."

_Dammit, Charles. Don't do that. _I opened the door, annoyed.

"I know, I know, Charlie," I said. "You could hear my thoughts down from wherever I was."

"No, I could hear you breathing on the other side of the door," his guest replied. _Very funny…._

"Hey, Matt," I said, rolling my eyes. "Professor, I can come back later if you're in the middle of something."

He shook his head. "What can I help you with, my dear?"

"So, um," I began, sitting on the couch next to Matt. "right before I left Malibu, something happened. All you need to know is to keep an eye out for feds in suits."

"We have dealt with the government before, Angie, and without any confrontations."

"This isn't the FBI or the CIA, Charles. This is an agency that already knows about the school and everyone it."

His face paled. "How?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea." I looked him straight in the eye. "Something is coming. And it is going to shake this planet to its core."

~:~

"Now…." I pulled off my hoodie and threw it to the side. "Let's see what you can do against me."

_Is she muy loco? _He screamed in his mind.

"Dude, it's fine. And yes, I am _muy loco._" I replied with a smile. "And remember English."

Still hesitant, he lit up his hands and started to shoot beams at me. I pushed a beam back with my telekinesis and flipped out of the way. We continued to spar, flipping and using our abilities against one another. I flipped out of the way of a beam, but I slipped on my landing, causing Marcos to hit me in the back.

I hit the ground with a thud and I groaned. Marcos ran over to me and saw my back.

"**Oh, my God. I'm so sorry**. I didn't mean to…."

I shushed him as I sat up. "You didn't do anything but graze me."

"Look at your back."

I looked back and saw what he meant. "Marcos, those are old scars. You…. I'm used to it."

He looked at my back again, nodding; and got up to grab my hoodie. With Marcos' help, I stood up and pulled it back on.

"To Mr. McCoy?" he asked when he saw me wince in pain.

I nodded. "To McCoy."

After we got down the hall, we got into the elevator.

"What happened?" he asked, glancing at my back.

"Ski accident," I answered almost robotically.

"I'm sorry if you don't like my honesty," he replied, with a hint of sarcasm. "But to be fair, I don't like your lies." He crossed his arms. "Why can't you tell me what happened?" The elevator door opened.

"I can't do that to you, Marcos." I started towards the infirmary.

"Why not?" he exclaimed, following close behind me. "If I'm going to be an X-man one day, I need to know what it's like."

I stopped and turned around to look at him. "Because I hope when you are old enough to be an X-man, there will be no need for them anymore."

~:~

_**Sorry for the short chapter. But keep an eye out for the next one later today!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_-MONTHS LATER-_

"Okay, guys. Review time. Name some important revolutions in world history." I pointed to a student who had raised their hand. "Kitty?"

"American."

"Good. Now...Bobby!"

He blinked. "Um, um, French?" I nodded and pointed to another student.

"John."

"Dance-dance." _This is our future….._

"John, detention this afternoon," I said. "Maybe you will have some time to study for your exam. Now-"

**RING!**

"See y'all next time. Now get out of here." The students grabbed their things and headed out the door. "And John, I expect to see you in detention or you will get a whole week for your little joke."

"Yes, ma'am…." he groaned.

I watched him walk out the door and saw Logan in the doorway.

"Goof-off again?"

I raised a brow. "What do you think?" Nervousness flowed from him. "What's up Logan?"

"You don't want to know, Ange." I glared at him and read his mind.

"Dammit, Logan." I said slamming my hand on the table.

Someone knocked on the doorframe. "Miss Angie?" Marcos asked. "Is this a bad time?"

"Kinda," I replied. "Catch up with you in a bit, okay?" He nodded in reply and ran off.

"Look," Logan said as he turned back to me. "I didn't know he was here until a few moments ago. And it's not like I can make him leave."

I shook a finger at him. "Liar. I told him to get lost and never come back. I don't care if he's an X-Man."

"Ange," he warned. "Don't say that."

"Why are you protecting him, Logan? You know what he did."

"Yeah, I do! But that is in the past."

I picked up my stuff and brushed past him. "Well, I'm sorry I don't see it like that." I bolted down the hall to check on Marcos.

"Hey, Angie!" _Not now…._

"Warren….." I turned around and faked a smile. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Had some business over this way. Thought I'd stop by."

"Great! Now leave." I turned and started walking away.

"Hold on a sec!" He followed after me. "That's a great way to treat a friend."

I stopped and turned back to face him. "I am being as friendly as I can right now, okay? There are far worse things I could say to you right now." I absentmindedly rubbed my shoulder. _Some scars are less visible on the outside than they are on the inside._

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You-"

"Angie?" I spun around.

"Marcos! Hey, bud. I was just looking for you. How was class?"

Warren gave me a look. I shook my head, ignoring him.

"Well, um, we dissected a frog," He replied.

"Gross, wasn't it?"

He nodded his head. "Smelled like barf." He gave Warren a look. "Who's this?"

"Um, this is Warren," I replied.

Warren held out his hand. "I'm an old….friend of hers."

"Yeah, old friend."

"Wait…." his expression darkened. "Why are you here?"

"Um, visiting…." Warren replied.

(Spanish is **bold**.)

"Okay!" I grabbed Marcos and pushed him around us. "**You, get to class. We will talk later."**

"**But.."**

"**Not buts. And who told-It was Logan, wasn't it?" **When he nodded, I groaned. "**Go, we'll talk later."**

I turned back to the winged mutant. "What?"

"You told him!" he exclaimed.

I scoffed. "I never told him. He's my kid, he was bound to find out sometime. Better sooner than later."

"On that note: _kid?_"

"I took him under my wing a few months ago. End of story." I crossed my arms, jaw clenched. "Now, goodbye," I said, walking away.

Once I got to the stairs, he called out. "How long will it take you to let go of what happened?"

"I have let go of it," I replied. "I just have five painful reminders."

~:~

That night, I decided to take Marcos out for dinner.

"So, what's with the guy?"

_God, I hoped you wouldn't ask._ "Nothing for you to worry about, okay?"

"You told me we would talk about this!"

I shook my head. "We are, bud. I know you want to get back at him, but there's nothing to avenge here. There isn't anything to fix what's broken on the inside." He slumped in his chair and crossed his arms. "Marcos…."

"You're helping me get over my past," he said. "I just want to help you do the same."

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are….by just being you." I pulled him close and ruffled his hair.

As he held my hand against his chest, I could hear the chaos in his mind. I knew he wanted to fix this, but he couldn't get over the fact that I got hurt.

"Marcos, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't mine. It wasn't his. The person responsible is gone and will never come back. Now, let's help each other move on." Letting go, he nodded his head and went back to eating his food.

"So, in history we learned about this guy who…"

He proceeded to tell me how ridiculous this guys plan was and asked what I thought about it, which got into a heated history debate. Even after we got back to the school we were still arguing.

"No, Angie. There's still no way he would have won!"

I sighed, "Look it back over in your book, then we'll talk more." I pushed his towards the stairs.

"But…." he whined.

"Room, now."

I heard snickering in the background.

"Logan, I hate you so much right now," i said turning around.

He faked shock. "Why me? I am an innocent bystander."

I crossed my arms, jutting a hip. "You were the substitute U.S. History teacher, weren't you?"

"Touche." He came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, leading me up the stairs. "So what happened with Warren earlier? Marie told me she saw Marcos run into y'all."

"Yeah, he walked up on us," I replied. "I swear if i hadn't sent him on his way, he would have hurt Warren. Which reminds me…" I stopped in front of him and crossed my arms."You told Marcos about him? What he did?"

He sighed. "He overheard me and Ro talking about Apocalypse. And somehow we brought you up. He asked more and more until he got it out of us."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you told him already."

I shook my head. "Remember when he accidently hit me with a beam a week ago? I told him the usual: ski accident."

"How'd he take it?" he asked, as we stopped in front of my door.

"Ticked I wouldn't tell him what actually happened." I said, shrugging. "There was a reason I didn't tell him Logan. I don't want him to grow up to be one of us. And I guess that ticked him off even more." I sighed. "Now, he just wants to protect me."

Logan smiled in reply. "Him and me both." I smiled back and opened the door. "He just wants to make you proud."

"When has he not?"I smiled. "Goodnight, Logan."

" 'Night. Just be careful with Warren, Ange. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

"I know, Logan. But how could I be me if I don't get a little beat up along the way? "

~:~


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hey, guys! Read and review. Feedback is wonderful!**_

_**~:~**_

Students raced to their vehicles, ready for the winter break.

"Hey, Angie! We need some help in here."

" 'Kay, I'll be there in a second." I wrapped my coat closer to my body and turned to enter the school, snow brushing my cheeks.

This year would be the first year I didn't go home for Christmas. After Tony announced to the world that he was Iron Man, nothing has been the same. He's changed, and so have I. My visions were getting stronger and I was afraid to see them happen with my own eyes.

"Why aren't you going home this year?"

"It's complicated." I replied, continuing to roll the cookie dough.

Storm and Jean looked at me confused. "What do you mean?"

"After everything that's happened this year, I need a break. Plus, I really haven't seen you guys that much."

Both women looked at each other. "Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes in reply. "This better not be like when you stayed here because you and Warren started dating." They saw my expression when I heard is name and gave me apologetic looks. "We didn't mean to-"

"Ooo, cookies! Don't mind if I do." I reached out and smacked Bobby's hand. "Owwww!" He cradled it.

"These are for later, Ice-Boy."

"But…." he whined.

"Kid," Logan said, walking in behind him. "You should get out of here before the kitchen knives come out." Bobby nodded and ran out with lightning speed.

Our eyes narrowed at Logan. "You're not getting one either."

"Nice try, bub!" I shouted as Storm shooed Logan out the door. "Anyways….First, It's okay, and two, it's not like that. After Tony….you know what, things have been tough."

"Not the first time it's happened," Jean replied. "You'll get through it."

"I'm not so sure anymore…." I set the roller to the side and leaned against the counter. "We haven't spoken in a month."

The women looked at me with sad eyes and set their items to the side. "Code Blue?"

"What happened with Hank this time?" I said, confused.

Jean shook her head. "Sorry, Code Green."

I nodded. "Yeah, Code Green."

"Alright," she replied, bringing a hand to her temple. "Rogue and a couple other girls are coming down to finish up. We have all night."

~:~

"_Code Green?"_

_I gave Jean a weird look. "What's that?"_

"_When we're feeling sad, we each grab a gallon of ice cream and watch chick-flicks all night long."_

_Storm nodded. "Yeah, but the movie selection is based on who's sad. Most of the time it's been chick-flicks."_

"_Okay….but one question:" I replied. "Why Code Green?"_

"_Because Code Blue's already taken. And most of the time it's till we can see Jean's green eyes again."_

"_Alright, then," I said, pulling out a gallon of Rocky Road. "Code Green."_

~:~

Half-way through our cartons, I broke through the sound of our movie.

"It's not just Tony…." My friends turned to me, Jean sending an '_I know'_ to me.

_Dammit, Jean..._I sent back to her. _Every time…._

_Sorry, but at least you talk…._

"Anyways," I continued with a glare. "It's not just him. I've been….off….ever since Warren came that day."

"I thought you were over it," Storm said.

I shrugged. "I am. I just….I don't know. Maybe I'm not." I dug at the frozen concoction. "It makes it hard when anytime something hits my back or I do something just enough to cause pain."

"What?" they exclaimed. Jean took my carton away from me. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's not a big deal, Jean," I replied. "I'm fine. Now, give me back my ice cream or I will end you."

"No, you won't."

I raised a brow. "Try me."

Handing the carton back, she shook her head. "Remember I trained you."

"Time for the student to become the teacher," I challenged, staring her down and prying into her mind.

She pushed back, and we continued to battle for dominance. After a while, she pushed back again hard, forcing me to relive that day. I tried to shake the memory from my mind and blink it away.

~:~

_**Smoke filled the air as Apocalypse rose up.**_

"_**You are very brave, Occulus," he growled as I staggered to my feet. "But even for someone who can see the future, oh how foolish you are."**_

"_**Can't blame someone for fighting for love."**_

_**He laughed. "That makes you even more foolish." He motioned for one of the horsemen.**_

_**As he took off his helmet, I saw his emotionless expression.**_

"_**Warren…..It's me, Angie." He remained motionless. "Come on, I know you can hear me."**_

"_**You see, he isn't the Warren you know anymore," Apocalypse cackled. "He is Death, as he will bring it upon you all."**_

_**Warren punched me in the face, bringing me to the ground. He raised his fist to strike again.**_

_**I held my hand up, "Wait!"**_

_**~:~**_

"Okay…..Stop!" I shouted, panting. "I'm turning in for the night." I stood up and turned to leave.

"Angie, I…."

I held up a hand to reassure her. "It's okay, I just need to sleep on it. I'll be fine in the morning."

_It's okay to not be…._ She replied.

_I know…._ I said giving her a small smile. _Just can you do me a favor and stay out of my head for a while….._

She nodded. "Sure. See you in the morning?"

"Yeah…." I replied.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Storm asked.

_I'll be fine, Ro…._ I smiled. _Just give me some time….._

~:~

_CHRISTMAS DAY_

The kids woke up eager to open their presents.

"Hurry, Miss J!"

"Slow down, Ruthie." I chuckled as I led the young girl to the den. "I don't want you to trip."

"I'll be fine!"

When we finally got down their stairs, Rogue took her from me and led Ruth to her presents.

"Funny isn't it?"

I turned around, seeing Scott. "Who? Ruth?"

He motioned over to the girl. "She's always so excited for each day, even in this world we live in."

"Sometimes, it's better to live like that most of the world is cupcakes and rainbows." I could tell that Scott was glaring at me through his ruby shades.

"Maybe that's true, Angie; but we both know that's not the whole truth," He replied, walking away.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Ignore him. You know how he is," Jean said.

"He's right, you know."

She shook her head. "Maybe. But you're right, too. If this world learns to accept us, I hope these kids can learn to see the good in it."

"What if it doesn't?"

Jean wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "That these kids will still see the good in it."

I hugged her, wiping some of my stray tears. "This is why I like you better than Scott."

"I know," she laughed, linking her arm with mine and leading me towards the festivities.

"Are you okay? After…."

"Jean," I said cutting her off. "It's okay. You did what you needed to do." I titled my head to the side, and crossed my arms. "Maybe it was a little too rough, but you got through to me. Things with Warren aren't as great as I thought they were. And I-"

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. As I read the message, I smiled to myself.

_Merry Christmas, kiddo. I love you._

_I love you, too…._

"Tony?"

"Yeah…." I smiled. "Anyways, I-"

_I know…._"We're here to help. No need to ask."

I shook my head. "You could let me tell you something for once without reading my mind." I said shaking my finger at her.

"You were-"

"Projecting to much? Yeah, I know," I huffed. "I'm working on it."

Marcos started running towards us. "I got an Xbox!"

"That's great buddy. You get anything else?"

Before he could answer, one of his friends called for him and he ran off to show them his present.

"Another time?" she asked, earning a nod in reply.

"Yeah, another time…."

~:~


	11. Chapter 11

**~:~**

_A FEW NIGHTS LATER_

_**"-the soldier's DNA is working wonderfully-"**_

_**"-The project is a success"**_

_**"-Get out of here-"**_

_**"-We found her-"**_

_**"-I'm pregnant-"**_

_**"-She's beautiful-"**_

_**"-Momma, no!-"**_

"NO!" I gasped, sweat covering my body. The same dream night after night: memories flooding my sleep.

I headed toward the bathroom, turning the shower on. The cold water shot down my spine, erasing the sleeplessness that consumed me.

First, it was an invasion, now this. I laughed to myself. _What am I getting in to….._

_~:~_

SOMETIME LATER…..

"Pepper, I know..."

_**"Then do something!"**_

I ran a hand over my eyes. "I don't know what's up with him. One, I'm way too far away to know; and, two, if I'm not around him for a long time, I can't feel him."

_**"Then, maybe you should come visit and, I don't know, FIGURE IT OUT!"**_

"Fine, fine! I'll see what I can do. Bye." **Click.**

Logan walked into the room. "What's up this time?"

I shook my head, slumping onto the couch. "Don't ask."

"What's going on?"

"Tony's being-." My phone interrupts my thoughts.

"Hello?"

_**"How's it going, Annie Jo?"**_

"First of all, don't call me that. Secondly, and please be honest, what the heck is going on Tony?"

_**"Nothing's going on. Everything's fine."**_

I raised a brow." That's what you said last time and then you built a weaponized '_prosthesis'_."

_**"Can't your uncle call his favorite niece?"**_

"Tony! This is serious."

_**"Fine! I need to talk to you about something. I want to ask if you were interested in-."**_

My eyes widened. _Not this again…._ "No. Ask Pepper."

_**"You didn't let me finish."**_

"I know what you're going to ask. So, no, I don't want to run Stark Industries. Never have, never will." I ran a hand through my hair. "Tony, what is going on?" my voice cracked.

_**"Angie, I-I got to go." **_**Click.**

"Tony! Dammit!" I slammed my phone shut.

Logan raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Guess I might be gone again. Cover for me?"

"Course. Who would if I didn't?"

I laughed, "I think they'd find, well, anybody."

~:~

"Charles?"

The man looked up from his desk. "Ah, Angie. How can I help you?"

"I hate to do this again, but I need to go see my uncle again. I've been having some weird dreams and I-."

He narrowed his eyes, "Dreams? Again?" He wheeled his chair around to sit in front of me.

"More like memories. But there are some parts I'm not sure about," I replied. "I think I'm seeing the future."

"Not again," he muttered. Charles raised a hand to my head. "May I?" When I nodded, he put his fingers to my temple, searching for some sort of explanation.

After a while, he gasped. "Take as much time as you need."

I was confused. "What did you see?"

He shook his head. "Time will tell, my dear. Time will tell."

"Remember what happened the last time I let time take its toll? Warren went berserk and I got hurt. I won't risk it again, Charles."

"Hopefully, this won't come for a long time."

Reluctantly, I nodded my head and got up. "And-"

"-We will watch over him, my dear. Don't worry."

Giving him my thanks, I rushed out the door. I gave Marcos a quick goodbye and a warning, along with a strong warning to Logan for them not to get into any trouble. I made sure that Jean would keep an eye on them.

"I'm serious, Logan. If one hair is singed, I will have the Professor make you believe you are a 12-year-old girl."

~:~

**"Welcome back, Miss Angie."**

"Thanks, JARV." I headed down the hall and set my things in my room. "JARVIS?"

**"Yes?"**

"How long until Tony and Pepper get back from Monaco?"

**"According to my records, they should return sometime tomorrow."**

"Okay, thank you."

**"Um, miss. I think you should see this,"** the AI pulled up news feed from Monaco.

_Tony was being attacked by a man with an electrical whip-like device, slicing the car in half. Tony activated the Iron Man suit. They continued to fight until Tony ripped something off the man's chest, disarming him. Police surrounded the man and arrested him._

"Good lord-JARVIS!"

**"Already on it, miss."**

**Beep. Beep.** _**"Hello?"**_

"Hey, Pepper. It's me."

_**"I'm guessing you saw the news."**_

"What do you think? What have the police said?"

_**"Not much. They ran him through the system and found nothing."**_

"I can get JARVIS to run it until y'all get back."

_**"Don't worry about it. Everybody's okay, and that's what matters."**_

"Pepper, I might as well run it because Tony will just do it when y'all get here."

_**"True. Alright, then. We'll be see you sometime tomorrow."**_

"Okay, Pepper. Stay safe."

_**"Bye." **_**Click.**

**~:~**

_**"-Do it!-"**_

"_**-No, wait.-"**_

"_**-Stark, these things are still coming!-"**_

"_**-I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute-"**_

"_**-And I know just where to put it.-"**_

_Gasp. Okay, now these dreams were starting to get weird. _

The clock said _5:00AM_. "Might as well get up. There's no way I'm sleeping now," I muttered to myself. I went to the kitchen and turned on the coffee.

**"Would you like me to play your morning playlist, Miss?"**

I took a sip of my coffee. "Sure, why not?"

As the music played, I sang along, busting a move or two.

"_Wake me up before you go-go, don't leave me hanging like a yo-yo. Ba-dun-ad-do_. _Ah!_ " I turned around to see Phil Coulson. "Don't do that!" I gave him a weird look. "Wait…. how'd you get in here?"

"The AI let me in," the man chuckled. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I need to speak with you."

"About Tony? Well, if you came here looking for answers, I don't have them. Me and Tony maybe close but we're not that close as of late."

"I wouldn't be too sure, about that. Every time something life-threatening happens to him, you always seem to show up. Why is that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because he's family, that's why Mr. Agent. And, if you've noticed, I haven't been back since the press conference a month ago."

"That's not the target of our concern. It's his actions as of late that bother us."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's selling off all his assets, handing off the company to Ms. Potts. And of course what just happened in Monaco." He handed me a file. "Your uncle is very sick. The palladium in his reactor is slowly killing him."

"He's…." I looked at the file. "You have an agent on the inside?"

"Yes, she goes by the name of Natalie Rushman. I'm not at liberty to reveal any more information right now."

"Understandable. So, why do you need me?"

"To try and get Mr. Stark to let you help him."

"The words '_Stark'_ and '_help_' are never in the same sentence."

"We understand that, but he needs to find a suitable replacement for the palladium or he will die."

"I can't promise anything…."I replied. "But I'll see what I can do."

"Wonderful. Until this gets sorted out, we're having an agent placed on you for safety purposes."

I raised a brow."Safety purposes?"

"The man who attacked your uncle in Monaco: he just broke out of jail."

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."

"Just for extra precautions."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

The man called for the agent to come in. When the agent entered, Coulson introduced him, "This is Agent Barton. Have fun."

After he left, I walked back in the kitchen. "JARVIS, resume playlist, please." The newer agent just stood there like a statue. I stared at him raising an eyebrow.

"So are you going to talk first, or am I?"A small grin crept onto the man's face. "Dude, you might as well relax. You're going to have to blend in, being my top-secret bodyguard and all." I knew I was slowly breaking him. Looking to the plate right next to me, "I got pancakes."

His stomach growled in protest. He finally broke, "Gimme some."

"That's what I thought." I watched the man stuff his face as I gave him some coffee. "Where do you put that?"

He just shrugged. "Sorry, these are really good."

"Thanks. My mom always said the quickest way to anyone's heart was through their stomach.," I smiled. "So, what do I call you? I mean Agent Barton just sounds suspicious."

"Just call me Clint."

"Clint, huh." I stuck my hand out. "Well, Clint, call me Angie."

"Pleasure," he shook my hand. As we touched, my eyes flashed.

_**I saw a him with a woman, who was heavily pregnant; both beaming with joy.**_

I smiled again and gestured towards the pan. "Want some more?"

With the intros out of the way, we just sat there eating pancakes and drinking coffee. After we finished, I put our dishes in the sink. "What do you for fun?" He raised an eyebrow. "That's within reason."

"Got any video games?"

"Oh, do we," I laughed, walking over to the TV console and opening the door. Video games and movies covered the shelves all the way from Guitar Hero to Mario Kart. "Just take your pick."

~:~


	12. Chapter 12

~:~

A few hours and rounds of Mario Kart later, JARVIS said, **"Miss, Mr. Stark has returned from his trip."**

I clearly wasn't paying attention, because the next thing I heard was Tony shouting, "Who are you?"

I looked away from the game, "Oh, hey, Uncle Tony!" He just gave me a look and pointed to Clint. "Um, that's Clint. And, no, he is not my boyfriend. He's totally ancient."

Clint glared at me. "Dude, I'm 39."

I gestured to Clint. "See! Ancient."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I just want to know who the heck he is."

"He's a friend I met through work," I said putting my hands on my hips.

Tony looked over my shoulder. "What's your last name 'Clint'?"

"Tony," I put myself between the two, "you can trust him. Do you think I would bring him here if I didn't?"

"Fine! He can stay, just keep him out of the lab." He pointed his finger at me.

"Aye aye, Captain!" I dramatically saluted.

Tony just rolled his eyes again and walked down to the lab.

I looked over to the woman who came in with them. "You must be the new assistant. I'm Angie" I offered my hand.

She shook it. "Natalie."

I looked over to Clint who kept glancing back in forth between the tv and her. "Natalie, huh." Clint noticed me staring and glued his eyes to the screen. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. Good luck."

"I'll take all the luck I can get. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"You too." After Natalie walked off, i plopped down next to Clint and glared at him.

"What?"

"You know her or something?"

"Classified."

"She the undercover?"

"That's classified."

"I'll take that as a yes."

He just rolled his eyes. "You gonna play or what? Wanna another chance to beat the master?"

"Oh, it's on old man."

~:~

_Later that night…._

I bolted up from my sleep, gasping for air. As I panicked, I felt my chest and my throat tighten. Grabbing the book on my nightstand, I threw it against the wall, hoping to get someone's attention.

When no one came, my throat tightened even more. My vision started to get blurry, tears beginning to fall. With all the energy i had left, I grabbed the glass cup off the nightstand and threw it against the wall.

As everything went black, the last thing I heard was it shattering and my door banging against the wall.

~:~

_Beep...beep….beep…_

_Ah my head hurts….What the hell…._

"Director, she's waking up."

Someone opened my eyes and shined a flashlight, blinding me.

"Ms. Jarvis, can you hear me?"

_Can I hear you? Ha! _"I can hear you perfectly. I'm not so sure about my sight with that light you're shining in my eyes."

"Just making sure you're okay," she replied, turning it off. "And it looks like you are. Now if you'll excuse me…."

"You definitely are a Stark." I turned my gaze to the man standing in the room. "Not by blood, but you definitely have the spunk."

"Who are you?"

"Someone you can trust."

"And why is that?" I looked him over. "You wear an eye-patch and a trench-coat. That just screams '_No touchy' _to me."

He uncrossed his arms and came to stand by the bed. "The fact that you are here at a SHIELD hospital and not in a civilian should give you enough of a reason, Ms. Jarvis."

"Still haven't given me a name or a reason."

"The name is Nicholas J. Fury, Director of SHIELD," he held out his hand. "Pleasure seeing you again, Angie."

As I shook his hand, I replied, "How do you-" My eyes flashed.

_**I saw my mom as she watched me play. She was weak, but she still had a smile on her face. He stood a distance away, keeping watch over us.**_

"I remember you. Less goatee, more fro, minus the eye-patch."

"Yes, it has been a long time." He smiled. "And you were barely to my knees and had curls that could have passed for a fro."

"What happened?" I asked.

"You'll have to be more specific."

"Last night," I replied. "All I remember is throwing the glass and the door bursting open."

"We don't know. After reviewing the footage from Stark's AI, all we know is you bolted up grasping your throat and chest, you threw the book and the glass, and then passed out as soon as Agent Barton and Ms Rushman entered the room."

He poured me a glass of water. "We hoped you could fill in the blanks."

"Might have been a nightmare, panic attack, i really don't know." I took a sip from the glass. "I threw the book to see if it would get someone's attention. When it didn't, i threw the glass. Just in time, I guess."

"You don't remember anything, do you?" I shook my head in reply. "Alright then…." he turned to leaved and stopped in the doorway to look at me again.

"Yes, Director?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, you just really look like your mother."

~:~

_**Hey guys! I know this one's a little short. Keep an eye out for the next chapter tomorrow!**_

_**Remember to review! Any feedback is great!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hey guys! Can you believe it? Endgame is coming out Friday!**_

_**The gang's (mostly) all back together. The OG Avengers. The Big Kahoonahs. Etc., etc...**_

_**Anyways...Let's get on with the show!**_

~:~

A few days after I was released, I quickly settled back into the mansion, constantly thinking about everything Fury had said.

To me, it was odd I was remembering him after all these years, but I strangely found it comforting.

I walked towards Tony's room and saw Natalie helping him get ready for his birthday party, stopping to listen in on their conversation.

"Can I ask you a question, hypothetically? Bit odd. If this was your last birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?"

"I'd do whatever I wanted to do with whoever I wanted to do it with." Natalie walked out. When she noticed me, she nudged her head in his direction.

I nodded and walked in.

"Hey, kid. Ready to party?"

"Not really. But i'll try since it's your day."

"That's the spirit!" He took a swig of his scotch as he walked out.

I grabbed his arm. "What is going on with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The excessive drinking, the wild attitude, everything!"

"Well, one, the drinking has always been a thing. Two, the whole attitude thing is-."

"Tony, I know about the palladium."

"I don't know what your talking about."

"I know it's killing you, and you haven't told anybody."

"That's crazy."

"Just like you are right now."

"I-."

"I almost lost you once. Don't make me lose you again." I said walking out.

~:~

"Okay: first kiss?"

"Zeke Stane," I replied. Clint gave me a look. "Spin the bottle, 15 years old. Not my best moment."

He shrugged. "I gotcha. Now your turn."

"Let me see," I took a sip of my drink. "Ever been engaged/married?"

"Once. Not my best moment either. You?"

"Engaged. And that's all I will say."

"Angie!" Pepper said, running towards us. "I need your help. NOW."

"Be right back."

Though confused, I followed her. "I don't know what to do," she said motioning towards him. Tony was in his Iron Man suit, drunk off his butt.

"Me either. Wanna take a breather?"

"Yes, please."

As we walked out, we bumped into Rhodey.

"Hey, Pepper. Hey, Ange."

I smiled. "We're going to get some air."

Rhodey asked, "What's wrong?"

We walked over to where we could see Tony. Pepper said,"We don't know what to do."

"You gotta be kidding me," he said as Tony fell over, drunk. "That's it, I'm making…."

I grabbed the phone from his hand. "No, no, no. Don't call anyone."

"Angie. This is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck out for him."

Pepper shook her head frantically. "We know. We get it. We're gonna handle it, okay! Just let us handle it."

Rhodey grabbed his phone. "Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to."

We nodded and Pepper headed over to Tony.

Tony's voice came through the speakers. "You know, the question I get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?' Just like that."

Pepper yelled to the crowd, "Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?"

Tony muttered something to her.

"Unbelievable! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming."

They started to argue about something and finally he said, "Pepper Potts. She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in 15 minutes. And if anybody, Pepper, doesn't like it, there's the door." His repulsor blasts the door.

"That's it." Rhodey stormed off towards the lab. I followed hot on his trail. He got in one of the suits.

"What are you doing?"

"The only thing I can do." He said as the face mask closed

"He's not going to be happy."

"Does it look like I care?" He headed off towards Tony in his own mark suit.

When I got back to the party, I saw Rhodey and Tony fight it out . Clint ran up to me, "Where the heck have you been? We need to get out now!"

I shook my head, "There's no way I'm leaving these two to duke it out."

"Rhodes knows what he's doing. We need to go." He grabbed my arm dragging me out.

We headed towards my car. Clint took my keys and got in the driver's side.

I got in, slamming the door behind me. "Where are we going?"

"Away." He started the ignition.

He was really starting to get on my nerves. "Clint! Tell me now!"

"Let's just get out of here first." He sped off, saying nothing else.

"Fine," I said, watching the house fade out of view.

~:~

"SHIELD?"

"Yep. They have to debrief you."

"Okay….cool." I was completely mesmerized.

A booming voice broke my trance."Ms. Jarvis," the man said. "Second time in a week. That must be some sort of record for us."

I muttered to Clint,"When you said 'debrief', I thought it would be Coulson interrogating me. Not the king of the spies."Clint snorted.

"_King of the spies?_" Fury chuckled,"You definitely are a Stark."

I winced. "Sorry, I thought you couldn't hear that. Guess the Starks were bound to rub off on me."

"I can tell. Now, if you'll follow me, we need to you to get us up to speed on your uncle's condition." I motioned for him to lead the way.

Soon after, we got to his office and sat down. "So, I'm sure Coulson told you of his condition."

"Yes, sir."

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What do you got?"

"Nothing. I can't find anything."

"Have you asked any of your colleagues?"

"How do you know about them?"

"Ms. Grey and Dr. McCoy have been consulted on prior projects before."

I raised a brow. "And why should I believe you?"

"Just answer the question, Ms Jarvis," The _literal _one-eyed man asked.

"Not exactly, but they said there isn't any known element that can replace the palladium." He just grinned. "Are you saying there is?"

"Maybe."

I was growing frustrated. "Decode the code for me, please!"

"Ms. Jarvis, have you ever thought of anything unknown?"

"An unknown element?" I laughed. "There is no way we would discover one,let alone create one, in time."

"But someone might."

"Someone like…."

"Well, Stark's a genius, isn't he?" he asked.

"He may be a genius, Fury," I replied, "but if he looking for something, he would have already."

"Tony had to get his genius from somewhere."

"Howard? How's he gonna help? He's kind of, like, DEAD!"

"But his files aren't."

I furrowed my brows,"How?"

"That is where we come in," he replied. "We can have the files delivered to the mansion as soon a possible."

"Okay, do it." I stood up and grabbed my things. "Well, if that's all you needed to know, then I guess I'll be going," I saluted.

Fury stood up, "Actually, I have something for you, too."

I furrowed my brows, confused. Fury nodded to Clint, and Clint walked off, coming back with a file box.

"What's this?"

"A key to your past."

I opened it and pulled out a journal.

_Property of Jeanette Margaret Jarvis_

"How'd you get this?"

"I….SHIELD acquired them after her death."

"What for?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why?"

He looked me straight in the eyes. "When your mother found out she was sick, she made me promise that I would never tell you. She wanted you to tell you herself."

I didn't totally understand his reasons but I nodded. Throwing the journal back in the box, I grabbed the box and headed for the door. I whipped back around to ask, "Why did you assign Barton to me?"

"Another promise I made to your mother."

"What was that?"

"That I would keep you safe." I gave him a once-over. His mind was a fortress; the only thing i could see was grief.

I nodded and Barton followed me, taking the box from me.

"Agent Barton. I need to speak with you." Fury said.

Clint gave me a look and handed me the box. "I'll meet you in the lobby."

I nodded and left the room, tuning into their conversation.

"_Yes, sir."_

"_I hope you remember what we discussed."_

"_Yes, and?"_

"_What have you got?"_

"_Nothing. She hasn't said much since then."_

"_Nothing. Nothing at all?"_

"_No, and I don't think she will. Not for a long time."_

"_And about the other?"_

"_She does act weird around Pepper but nothing more than that."_

"_Alright, then. Keep it up."_

With that I cut the link. _Oh, god. What am I going to do?_

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. "Angie, you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "I'm just exhausted. Let's go home."

~:~

Once we got back to the house, I pulled out the journals and started reading.

'_My darling, I am sure if you are reading this I am gone from this world. The story that I am about to tell you has not been told except to a few. In time, you will learn who those are. If you have been given these books, then you have met one. The story of how you came to be is long, twisted, and complicated. But the best place to start is at the beginning.'_

As I continued to read, my emotions clouded, causing the lights to flicker. Once I saw what I was doing, i slammed the book closed and threw it across the room.

The door burst open, Clint entered with bow drawn.

"What happened? You okay?"

"I'm fine. I just threw a book." I gave him a confused look. "What's a bow going to do? Skewer someone to death?"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, kid." He bent down and picked up the book I had thrown. "You started reading them?" I nodded in reply. "Didn't like what you saw?"

"Not necessarily. But it was nice to see that I have been lied to my whole life." He handed me the book. "I see why, but it still hurts."

"You want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "I'd rather not." My head began to throb. "I think I'm gonna turn in. See you in the morning?"

"It is morning."

I looked over at my clock. _3:00 A.M. _"A more godly hour, then."

"Alrighty, then. Holler if you're dying."

I gave him a thumbs up and threw myself on the bed.

_Why didn't y'all ever tell me what really happened?_

~:~

_**The Next Morning….**_

**Ring. Ring. **I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes and saw the ungodly caller ID.

"Speak and be recognized by your empress, mortal."

"_I knew the Starks rubbed off on you, Jarvis. Just not to that capacity."_

"What do you want, Fury?"

"_I'm sending you the coordinates now. Get here as fast as you can."_

"Why now? It's…" I looked at my alarm. "5:45. Running on less than three hours of sleep here."

"_Not my problem. Now, get here. You can blame your uncle then." _**Click.**

~:~

Driving in the parking lot, I saw Tony sitting in the giant donut on the store.

"A donut-shop?" the spy asked, as I got out of the car.

I rolled my eyes. "Just go with it."

Fury called out to him. "Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut."

Tony peered over his sunglasses and looked at me. "Angie?"

I shook my head. "Just get down here!"

~:~

"I told you I don't want to join your super-secret boy band," Tony said rubbing his eyes.

"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

I started nodding off as the two continued to bicker. The bell on the door woke me up and I turned to see Tony's assistant walk in. _Sure, Clint….Classified my ass…._

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."

Tony peered over his glasses. "You're fired."

"I don't think that's up to you, Anthony," I said, giving her the seat next to Fury.

Fury moved over to let the woman sit down. "Tony, Angie, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff." Tony waived in reply.

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow," she said. "Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."

"I suggest you apologize."

I glared at him, "Tony, shut up."

"You've been very busy. You made you girl CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with you suit. Now if I didn't know better...," Fury said.

Tony straightened in his seat. "You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa. He took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury turned to Agent Romanoff. "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage."

I raised my hand. "Um, Rhodey was authorized."

Fury looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"I may or may not have let him use the War Machine suit to control Tony while he was drunk."

Tony yelled, "What do you mean you let him take my suit?"

"I let him use it to keep you from hurting yourself, NOT take it to the U.S. Army."

"Same thing, Angie!" He turned back to Fury, "What do you want from me?"

Fury shook his head. "What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Romanoff got up and headed out the door. I moved next to Fury so I could look at Tony.

"You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." I heard the door jingle and saw Romanoff return. Fury nodded to her, "Hit him."

Romanoff injected something into his neck.

Tony yelped,"Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" The rash on his neck slowly went down. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?" he said rubbing his neck.

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."

Romanoff knelt next to him, "It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms."

Fury stared at Tony's neck, "Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

Fury glanced at me and then Tony, " Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

I knew that Fury had a plan, but I still wasn't sure what the end game was. I just hoped it didn't have anything to do with what I had been seeing in my dreams.

~:~

_STARK MANSION_

"Whoa, slow down, Rhodey. What happened?"

_**"They were analyzing the suit and the general told me that Hammer is being hired to weaponize it."**_

"Hammer's going to blow someone up. You saw all the videos of his prototypes."

_**"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't know this was going to happen."**_

"It's okay. What are we going to do?"

_**"I don't know, Angie. I'll see what I can do."**_

"Okay, stay safe."

_**"Bye, Ange."**_ **Click.**

I headed towards the living room where Fury and Tony were, listening on their conversation.

_"What do you remember about your dad?"_

_"He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me,"_ he replied. "_So, it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."_

_"That's not true," _the agent replied. "_And need I remind you, you sent that niece of your's to one as well."_

_"That was her idea, not mine. And also, you clearly knew my dad better than I did."_

_"As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of SHIELD."_

I stepped down the stairs as some agents walked in with a large box.

"What?" Tony replied, seeing the box. "Wait, what's this?"

Ignoring him, Fury put a hand on Romanoff's shoulder, "Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?"

"Yeah," he groaned.

Fury turned to Tony, "And Tony, remember, I got my eye on you. " He glared as he left.

The redhead turns to Tony. "We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck."

Tony turned to Coulson. "Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice."

Coulson smiles at him. "I'm not here for that. I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises," he explained. "If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will taze you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?"

I laughed, "I think he got it."

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment.," He says. "Ms. Jarvis, follow me I need to speak with you."

I follow him to a separate room. "So, what's up?"

"First, there's a box in your room with some more of your mother's things. Secondly, Barton will continue to shadow you. Don't let Tony find out about him."

"Tony's met him already, he just doesn't know the SHIELD part."

"Let's keep it that way."

"Yes, sir." I got up to leave. "Oh, and by the way, nice going back there."

He smiled, "I try."

I laughed as I leave the room.

~:~

That night I headed down to the shop with some pizza. I heard Howard's voice playing.

_**"So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I'd like to personally show you my ass. I'd like to… I can't… This is… I can't… We have this, don't we? This is a ridiculous way… Everything."**_

I continued to walk down the stairs. When I heard him say, _**"Tony,"**_ I stopped in my tracks.

_**"You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you."**_

I put the pizza next to Tony and lay a hand on his shoulder. He took it in his and kissed it, giving it a squeeze.

"Why didn't you tell me they knew?"

"Well, I kind of find out the night of your party, " I lied.

"How?"

"Um..." I stammered. "An agent brought me to Fury when things got crazy." _Nice going, Angie._

"Romanoff?"

I shook my head. "No. Somebody else…."

"I'm still a little mad about the suit thing, but thank you for knocking some sense into me."

I snorted. "About time."

"Whatever. Now, get out of here and let me work," he pushed me towards the stairs. "Go hang out with your boyfriend or something."

I yell, "Clint is _NOT_ my boyfriend." I headed up the stairs, hearing Tony's laughter fade away.

~:~

So, I followed my uncle's advice and hung out with Clint. The classic pizza, coke, and video games.

"Oh, no you didn't" I yelled.

"Bring it on sister."

My kart darted past Clint's and sped right in to first place. "Oh, yeah."

Clint just slumped in defeat. "But...how did you?"

"The student has become the master," I said bowing to him.

He crossed his arms and pouted, "Cheater."

"How do you cheat on Mario Kart?"

"I don't know! You...you!" He sputtered.

I shook my head, "Uh, uh. No whining. Play again?"

"No, I'm done." He took a swig of his coke as he got up. "I'll be outside. Holler if your dying or something."

"Come on, Clint. I'll let you win this time."

"It's not the same. Bye!" He went out the door and slung himself on the roof.

~:~

_**Thanks for reading! Also, thank you to those who have followed and favortied this story from the Proxima series.**_

_**Thank you for dealing with my scatterbrain and my rambling.**_

_**If any of y'all want to discuss anything from either story, feel free to PM me or review.**_

_**Anyways...See y'all next time!**_


	14. Chapter 14

~:~

"_**How's your uncle doing?"**_

"I'm not sure, Marcos," I said keeping my voice low. "How's school?"

"_**Okay, I guess. But I do have one complaint."**_

I snorted, "What's that?"

"_**Logan is a terrible babysitter." **__Oh no…._

"What happened?"

"_**He helped me with some homework and I missed every question."**_

"History?"

"_**What do you think?"**_

I sighed, "I'll talk with him, okay? Just hang in there, buddy."

"_**Alright….Talk with you later?"**_

"Yeah, talk with you later. Bye." **Click.**

"Who's that?" Clint asked as he pushed the cart down the aisle.

"Later, okay."

He nodded and we continued on our way.

~:~

Once we got back from shopping, I went down to the workshop. There was a model of the Expo leaning on the wall, and Tony had a digital rendering of it.

**"Am I to include the Belgium waffle stands?"**

"Waffles?" I asked, looking around the room. "Whatcha doing'?"

"Watch and learn, kiddo." He turned back to the hologram. "And, JARV, that was rhetorical. Just show me." He clicked his fingers and the model spins and lifts upright. "What does that look like to you, Angie? Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be here. JARVIS, highlight the uni-sphere. Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."

**"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?"**

"I'm discovering… Correction. I'm rediscovering a new element, I believe. Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees." He begins flicking the things away. "Parking lots, exits, entrances. Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework. " The model reassembled into a nucleus and Tony zoomed in on it.

"Whoa..." I gaped.

"You're darn right, whoa." Tony smiled, "Dad. Dead for almost 20 years, and still taking me to school." The model shrunk in his hand.

**"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."**

Tony turned to me, "Thank Dad."

**"Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."**

"Get ready for a major remodel, fellas. We're back in hardware mode." Dummy and the other bots whirled in excitement.

~:~

_THE NEXT DAY_

Coulson walked into my library. "I guess this is goodbye, Miss."

"Wait, what?"I said, popping my head up from my desk.

"I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."

"Secret stuff?"

"Something like that." We shook hands. "Pleasure seeing you again," he said and headed towards the door. When he smiled, I could tell he was hiding something. _He's not the only one leaving…._

"Right," I frowned. "See you around, Coulson."

"Goodbye, miss."

~:~

**Ring. Ring.**

"Hello?"

_**"Angie? Where've you been? I've been trying to call you."**_

"Sorry, Logan. What's up?"

_**"Nothing. I was trying to make sure you were alive."**_

I laughed. "I got a bodyguard on me 24/7. Didn't want to compromise the school."

_**"Understandable."**_

_Wait a minute_. "Logan, is there something else going on that you want to tell me about?"

_**"Um…"**_

"Logan," I warned.

He sighed, _**"Fine. He's back. Again."**_

_Warren._ Nothing good ever came of that, well, for me.

The familiar memory flooded back into my mind.

"_-the Warren you know is gone-"_

"_-Wait!-"_

I shook my head. "What did he want?"

_**"Nothing. Just came to visit. Again."**_

"But?"

_**"He did ask about you."**_

I scoffed. "He always does. Let's please change the subject."

_**"You need to talk to him, Ange. And I mean talk to him."**_

"Whatever."

_**"You coming back anytime soon?"**_

"I'm not sure yet. I found some stuff about my past. I kinda want to figure it out."

_**"The dreams?"**_

"Still there, but they're helping me. That's what's important."

_**"All you can ask, right?"**_

"Yeah." I heard a crash over the phone. "What was that?"

_**"Uh, I gotta go."**_

"That better not be my kid." **Click.**

Pepper walked in the room, "You going to the Expo?"

I shrugged. "I don't know if I want to watch Hammer rip-off Tony."

"What if he fails miserably?"

_That's not a terrible idea._ "Now that I would pay to see."

Pepper laughed. "Well, if you're interested, we'll pick you up around 6."

"Sounds good."

"I'll see you then."

"Okay, Pep." I waived.

She turned back around. "Oh, and you have a visitor."

"Okay…." I got up and headed towards the living room. When I got there, I was greeted by tall man with dark hair. "Who are you?"

"I'm the new agent being assigned to you, Miss Jarvis."

"Since when?"

"Effectively immediately this morning."

"And why should I trust you?" I started combing through his mind. "I mean you could be one of Hammer's goons here to kill me."

"I could get-"

"I know you're SHIELD, dude." I crossed my arms and jutted my hip out. "You can cut the spy crap." He was caught off-guard. "I get that reaction a lot." I offered my hand, "The name's Angie. Who might you be?"

He shook it. "Grant Ward." My eyes flashed-

_**Different people, different places, different events….All jumbled together….**_

_**Family….Betrayal….And….**_

_Love? _"Pleasure to meet you." I grinned. "Now, can you excuse me for one sec." I pulled out my phone and dialed.

**Ring. Ring. **"_Director Fury speaking."_

"Hi, Angie Jarvis. Um, thanks for the heads up."

"_Ah, the new agent. I'm sorry, but Agent Barton has been reassigned. Deal with it."_

I scoffed, "You still could have warned me." **Click. **_How rude…._I gave the new arrival a once-over. _Now, it took me five seconds to break Barton. Let's see how long you take._

~:~

_**Three hours later….**_

"So…." I began. "You play video games or anything?"

"Not really," he replied, almost robotically. "Training doesn't give me much free-time for that."

I looked him over, scanning for something he liked. "I have an idea….Be right back." I ran off towards my room and pulled out the item I was looking for. Smiling, I ran back towards the living room and brandished the item.

"A true test of strategic naval warfare…..Battleship." He raised a brow in reply. "It's either this or I will force you to play Mario Kart."

Agent Ward huffed in defeat. "Battleship it is…."

~:~

_THAT NIGHT-STARK EXPO_

_**"…Justin Hammer. His presentation will begin shortly in the main pavilion."**_

We sat down in our seats as the presentation started.

"Oh, God-" i said as I watched Justin Hammer dance across the stage. He was trying way to freaking hard.

He introduced his drones. _Typical Hammer._ Until, "Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes."

_Oh, no._

**Ring. Ring.** _**"Angie, where are you?"**_

"The Expo. Watching Hammer."

_**"Has he shown what he's been working on?"**_

"The suit? Yeah, he is right now." I replied. **Click.**

I saw the Iron man suit land on the platform.

Pepper turned to me. "What's going on?"

"I'm trying to find out," I whispered, reaching for Tony's mind. _Come on, come on…._

I murmured into her ear "I can't, he's too far. There's too many people."

"Can you get closer?"

"I don't think that will help."

A gun came out of Rhodey's suit. _Aiming right at Tony._

"Something's not right." I dialed my phone.

"You think!" Pepper yelled.

**Ring. Ring. "Mr. Stark is unavailable at the moment. How can I help you, miss?"**

"JARVIS, patch me through!"

**"I cannot, miss. Mr. Stark's orders."**

"Then, tell me what is going on!"

**"It seems like Colonel Rhodes' suit is compromised."**

"Can you break into it?"

**"Already on it, miss."**

"Thanks. " **Click.**

Suddenly, a flood of images filled my head. _Vanko. Vanko was doing this._

We headed towards the stage entrance. Hammer was yelling at the technician.

"What's going on? What's happening?"

"Your drones and suit have been overridden Mr. Hammer." I crossed my arms.

He turned around. "What? What do you mean it's been overridden? Jack, call the guards."

"Tried. The phones are down, so are their cells."

The tech turned to us. "He locked us out of the mainframe."

"Who locked you out?" Pepper asked.

"Please, leave," Hammer said. "I got this handled. In fact, if your guy hadn't showed up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please, now go away…."

I scoffed. "Like heck you do. Ward, you know how to hack?" When he shook his head, I turned to the tech.

"Move over and help me, I got something that might work."

Natasha grabbed Hammer and held him to the desk. "Who's behind this?"

"Vanko," I said as I entered the mainframe.

She turned back to Hammer. "Where is he?"

"At my faculty, " he stammered.

She released him and left, Pepper calling the police, "Okay. Right away. Right away." She ignored Justin's objections and turned to the tech and me, "Tell me everything y'all know. Go."

He said, "Each set of drone is communicating in its own unique language."

"Well, choose one and focus on that."

I shook my head, "It's not that easy."

Justin muttered, "Have you tried Russian? Why don't you try Russian?"

I turned to him and smiled. "Mr. Hammer, would you kindly stand over there and, please, shut up."

~:~

(Nat: _italics_; Tony: _italics_)

Natasha came over the line. _"Reboot complete. You got your best friend back."_

Tony replied_,"Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff."_

"_Well done on the new chest piece. I am reading significant higher output and your vitals all look promising."_

_"Yes, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you."_

Pepper's eyes widened. "What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?

Tony exclaimed,_"Is that you? No, I'm not. Not anymore."_

"What's going on?"

_"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you."_

She scoffed, "You were gonna tell me? You really were dying?"

He said, "I was gonna make you an omelette and tell you."

Natasha called over the comm, _"Hey, hey. Save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you."_

_"Great. Pepper?"_

She replied,"Are you okay now?"

_"I am fine. Don't be mad. I will formally apologize…"_

I called out, "Tony, she's already mad."

_" …when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack."_

"Fine." she sighed.

_"We could have been in Venice."_

"Tony, shut up! You got bots on your 20!"

~:~

Police came and arrested Hammer.

"I'm trying to help here." He growled, "I get it. I see what you're doing. You're trying to pin this on me, huh? Making a problem for me?" The officers started leading him away, Pepper following them outside. "I'm gonna make a problem for you. I'm gonna be seeing you again real soon."

The tech turned to me, "How did you already know about all this stuff? I mean like Vanko?"

"Besides being on the comms with Iron Man," I shrugged. "I had some informants already on it."

_If he only knew…._

~:~

(Rhodey: _italics_; Tony: _italics)_

As Tony and Rhodey fought off the Hammer drones, me and Natasha kept watch on the drones.

"Heads up. You got one more drone incoming. This one looks different." she said, "The repulsor signature is significantly higher."

Vanko landed with his own suit.

_"This ain't gonna be good," _Rhodey said as Ivan's whips turned on. _"I got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the Ex-Wife."_

I said, "With the _what?_"

Rhodey shoots Ivan and it fizzles off as he hits the water.

I laughed, "Hammer tech?"

"_Yeah…."_

They put their targets on Vanko. The three continue to fight and shoot at each other until Tony and Rhodey are grabbed by Vanko's whips

Tony said, _"Rhodes. I got an idea. You want to be a hero? I could really use a sidekick. Put your hand up."_

_"This is your idea?"_ he asked. They turn their repulsors at each other and shoot, the blasts hit causing them to explode, Vanko caught in the middle. The reactor on his suit and all the drones glow red.

Rhodey said,_"All these drones are rigged to blow. We gotta get out of here man."_

Tony panicked, _"Pepper!"_, and took off.

_Come on, Tony, hurry…._

Tony grabbed Pepper just as a drone explodes, landing on a roof when they were safe.

I turned to Ward, "So, how'd you like your first day?"

~:~

"Wonderful job, Ms. Jarvis." Fury said as we sat in his office. "I hope this can become a regular occurrence."

"Tony almost killing himself and I save his ass?" I laughed. "I think I'll pass."

"Maybe you can reconsider."

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "Okay, shoot."

"That bodyguard of your's. Agent Ward," he began. "From the very beginning of his career here, his loyalties have been...shaky." He threw a file on the desk. "Keep an eye on him."

"What are you thinking he's up to?" I said, flipping through the file.

He raised a brow. "I think you already know what I mean."

"You're not considering that….How?"

"I don't know. I need you to find that out."

I nodded in reply. "Alright, but once my family is put at risk, I'm out."

"Deal. Just find me some answers…..before it's too late."

~:~

_**Hey, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**_

_**Leave a review about how you like it so far.**_

_**See y'all next time!**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**~:~**_

_A FEW MONTHS LATER_

"Open it."

"Okay…." I opened the envelope and pulled out the card. "_Thank you for putting up with me when I thought no one else would. Maybe you can put up with me longer than you thought."_

Marcos handed me a folder. When I opened it, I looked right back up at him. "You….you want me….to adopt you?" He nodded in reply.

"All the papers are ready. You just have to sign them."

"I don't know what to say….I…." I blew out my cheeks, "Where do I sign?"

~:~

"You're what?" Logan exclaimed.

"I've been gone the past year anyways. I think it was inevitable."

He shook his head. "Forget that. You have one other thing to think about: you have a kid involved. What are you going to do? Leave him here?"

"I did think about that, and we talked about it. He's going to stay here during the week and then come and visit on the weekends. Phone calls everyday."

"Did you even tell Tony about him?"

"I'm…. getting to it."

"Angie!" he exclaimed.

"What am I supposed to say? _Hey, Tony! I adopted this kid a couple months ago without telling you. Can he come stay with us when he's not in school?"_ I glared at him. "Get realistic!"

"I am being realistic." He took a deep breath. "You can't keep him hidden forever."

"Hold on a second, Logan," I snapped, shaking my head. "I'm not keeping him hidden; I'm keeping him safe. I-" I looked over and saw Marcos in the doorway. "Marcos, I-"

"Mom, it's okay," he replied.

_Mom….That's gonna take some time getting used to…._

"We're on the same page, remember?" I nodded in reply and grabbed my bag.

"Goodbye, Logan." I walked out the door, planting a kiss on Marcos' head.

Marcos followed me down to the garage and gave me one last hug. "See you soon."

"See you soon, buddy."

~:~

_SOME TIME LATER…._

"So, what's the plan?"

I shrugged. "Don't know yet. Just take it one day at a time." I took his hand. "That's the only thing we can do."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Smiling in reply, I said, "There is nothing else I want more right now."

"Well, then, Angie Jarvis, what do you want to do?"

"Your pick, Grant Ward."

~:~

I sat in my bed finishing the last journal. Tears streamed down my face as I read her last words.

'_This is my last entry, Angel. I love you so much. Take care of your uncle. He needs you. Some days may be hard, but take it one step at a time. If you find your father, bring him back. He may not be the same but bring the good back in him. And whatever you do, guard your heart and wait for that one person who will love you for who you are.'_

My phone began to ring. I wiped my tears.

"Hello?"

_**"Ms. Jarvis, we need your assistance."**_

"What do you got?"

_**"Meet us at the coordinates we're sending you. And we'll debrief you more."**_

"Aye aye, captain."

~:~

_SHIELD BASE: LOCATION UNKNOWN_

"Whoa…Is that..."

Fury stood next to me with his arms crossed. "Yep, this is your consultation."

"But, he's…." I stammered.

"I know." He turned to look at me. "That's why we need you."

"You have Coulson here. Why me?"

"We both know why. He's your responsibility."

'_One day, I hope you meet him. Bring him back to the light, you are his only hope. There is a slim chance the Captain will ever come back. If he does, guide him in this crazy world.'_

~:~

Me and Tony ate in silence.

Things had been tense since the Expo. I didn't know what to tell him anymore. And on top of that, the fact that he was lying to me about Mom….What was there to say?

"You okay, kid?" he asked, breaking my trance.

I opened my mouth, quickly shutting it, and shook my head.

"It must be important, if you're reacting like that."

"Fine, then…." I dropped my fork on my plate. "Answer me this: When were you going to tell me Mom was kidnapped?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Fury-"

"Fury told you!" he exclaimed. "Of course he did, I mean he's the King of the Spies."

"He didn't tell me anything. Mom did."

He raised his brow. "This isn't some New-Age crap, is it?"

"No," I replied. "He gave me all the journals she kept when she was pregnant with me."

"Kid, I….How could I tell you that when I myself don't know what happened?" He sighed, "She told me some things, things I couldn't listen to. She begged me to forget it happened, for your sake. And Angie, I tried. Everyday I tried to cleanse it from my mind, but when I saw you…."

"Everything came flooding back."

Tears brimmed his eyes. "How could I tell a little kid that some random…."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Tony."

"No, you're not," he replied. "But you're still my kid. And I didn't know how to tell you that." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Anything else you need to say?"

"Just that she asked me to keep you in check."

He snorted. "Even from the grave, she still delivers some sick burns."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Yeah, she does."

~:~


	16. Chapter 16

_**Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. You know how finals are. Now onto the show!**_

~:~

"ALL AGENTS, CODE 13! I REPEAT. ALL AGENTS, CODE 13!"

I glared at Fury. "Told you the game would tip him off."

We ran towards the van, chasing after the man. We found him in time square and got out.

"At ease, soldier! Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but... we thought it best to break it to you slowly." I rolled my eyes at Fury.

"Break what?" the man asked.

I walked up to him, "Sir, you've been asleep. For almost seventy years."

He looked around him in shock.

I put a hand on his arm, "You gonna be okay, Captain?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I just...I had a date." he turned and gave me a weird look. "Becca?"

"No, Angie." I frowned, "What's wrong?" Who's Becca?

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head. "You just remind me of someone."

~:~

I stood outside the med bay, watching the Captain and the doctors through the glass.

A nurse walked out, "Miss Jarvis, the Captain is all clear. You can go in now."

"Thank you." I took a deep breath and followed her in.

His mind clouded up with emotions as I rounded the corner. Even as a stranger, I was so familiar.

"Hello, Captain. I never got to properly introduce myself." I held out my hand. "Anja Jarvis. But call me Angie."

He shook it. "Ma'am."

"Just Angie."

"Of course," he replied, nodding. "Seventy years, huh?"

I gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, it's a long way from the forties."

"Anything I missed?"

"Well, we won….kind of….but there's things we lost, too."

"How much?" he asked, grief dripping from his voice.

"That's for you to find out, Captain," I said, slyly trying to change the subject. "And I'm here to help."

He looked me over. "And why should I trust you?"

"Because I think Uncle Howard and Auntie Peggy would chew me out if I didn't."

"Howard? Howard Stark?"

"Well, Howard would have if he…." He nodded, understanding what i meant.

"And Peggy?"

"She's still around. Bossing around those nurses just like the old days." I laughed, "If only she could tag-team with me on Uncle Tony. That Stark boy would get his ass chewed out for all the stuff he's pulled."

"Howard had a son?" the captain asked.

I nodded in reply. "Yeah, just him. He was Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria's pride and joy. Even if they didn't show it much."

"Sound like he never changed." He looked up at me. "How about you? Where do you fit in this?"

"I-"

"Miss," the nurse interjected. "Visiting time is over. But the director needs to speak with you."

"Alrighty then," I turned back. "I guess I'll see you later. Maybe I can answer your question then."

"Isn't an easy answer?"

"Oh, no, Captain Rogers. It's a lot more complicated than you think."

~:~

Ring….Ring….Ring….

"Hello, you've reached the office of Supreme Genius. There are no available operators at the moment call back later please." Click. I smacked the phone back on the nightstand.

Ring….Ring….Ring….

"What!" I answered.

"I thought I was calling the Office of Supreme Genius?"

"Well, you reached the Office of Too Freakin' Bad." I blinked, slowly recognizing the voice. "Clint?"

"What's up Baby Girl?"

I snorted. "You are definitely not Derek Morgan."

"Ya think?" he countered. "How's it goin'?"

"Well, other than the fact that you kinda left without telling me, and it is-" I looked at my alarm- "3:00 in the morning. I'm doin' just peachy."

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's-"

"-Your job. I know." I picked at my nails. "It would've been nice to say goodbye."

"Yeah, it would have," he replied. "So, I heard you got stuck with Grant Ward."

"Among other things…"

"You didn't." I could feel his eyes widen in shock.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I objected. "It wasn't like that." I felt him glaring through the phone. "And now you're silently judging me."

"Actually the opposite. I'm proud of you."

"Huh?"

"The dude is so by the book, no one has got him to open up."

"All I did was persuade him to play Battleship," I replied.

"How long did that take?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, three hours?"

"That's three hours more than most could handle."

"Maybe….So, how's New Mexico?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"How do you know where I am?"

"Just a guess. That's where Coulson said he was going." I snorted. "Plus, for a super-spy you aren't very good at keeping your location a secret."

"Touche," he replied. "How's-" I heard someone in the background. "Sorry, kid. I gotta go. Talk to you soon?"

My eyes flashed.

I saw a glowing blue scepter, and Clint's eyes glowing the same color. It quickly flashed to aliens flying around Manhattan. And-

"Angie, you there?"

"Yeah…sorry," I replied. "Talk to you soon."

_**~:~**_


	17. Chapter 17

**_Hey guys, finally saw Endgame. To me it was a perfect ending to this Era of Marvel movies. Best wishes to the stories to come._**

_**And a side note, sorry for the wait, I've been working a lot lately with school and other stuff. I will try not to make this a reoccurring thing but you know how things are.**_

**_Anyways, on with the show..._**

**_~:~_**

_A FEW MONTHS LATER- STARK TOWER_

**"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocol's are being overwritten."**

Coulson's voice came through Tony's phone. _**"Stark, we need to talk."**_

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."

_**"This is urgent."**_

"Then leave it urgently," he said as the elevator door opened with Coulson inside. "Security breach! Angie, that's on you."

I rolled my eyes and turned to the visitor, "Coulson."

Pepper smiled, walking over to greet him. "Phil! Come in!"

"Phil? Uh...his first name is Agent." Tony corrected, following the redhead.

"Come on in, we're celebrating," I called over my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jarvis; but I can't stay." Coulson held out a file towards Tony. " We need you to look this over. Soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things."

"That's alright, cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade." Pepper said trading the folder for her champagne. She handed Tony the file and took his drink. "Thank you."

He opened the file and walked towards the workstation,"Official consulting hours are between-."

I look up from my laptop, "Whenever you want them, which is never."

"This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about The Avengers?" Pepper asked. "Which I...I know nothing about."

I furrowed my brows,"I thought the Avengers Initiative was scrapped?"

"And I didn't even qualify," Tony added.

"I didn't know that either." Pepper frowned.

I raised my hand, "I did, apparently he's volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

Pepper smirked, "That I did know."

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore."

"Whatever." he motioned for Pepper. "Miss Potts, got a minute?"

They walked off and started talking.

I turned to Coulson. "What about me?"

"It's been recommended that you not be on this case."

"What about a few months ago when Rogers thawed?"

"Due to some recent events, Director Fury took you off."

"What-" _**The scepter….the eyes….Clint….**_

"Phil,"Pepper said walking towards us. "Any chance your driving by LaGuardia?"

"I can drop you." He said as we headed towards the elevator.

"Fantastic."

I smirked. "Maybe you can tell us about the cellist."

"She moved back to Portland."

"That's too bad."

~:~

After we dropped Pepper off at the airport, Phil dropped me off at my apartment.

"I think we know each other well enough for you to call me Angie."

"I know but they don't know that." He gave me a small smile.

"These are some of the things that make me not trust you as much as I'd like too. "I sighed, "Phil, why don't y'all want me on this?"

There was a long pause before he spoke. "Barton's been compromised."

My heart pounded, blood rushed to my ears. "What happened?"

"The man we're after put him under some type of trance. Clint and some others are on his side now."

"But he's alive?" I choked, him nodding in reply. "Off the record, I think your going to need my help."

He stared at me,"Why's that?

"Phil, I think you and I need to have a talk. But there is one condition."

"Name it."

"Whatever is said in this room stays between you and me, no one else will know. I know what Shield would do if they heard this."

"Depends on what you have to say."

"Okay….I probably going to regret this," I began. "What do you know about my previous employment?"

"I know you were a teacher at Xavier's Institute, World History."

I bobbed my head,"Other than that."

He leaned back on the kitchen counter. "I know that it helps people with special abilities."

"You think they're people too."

He crossed his arms, "With all the things I've seen, it's hard not to believe that." His head jerked over to me. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

I chewed on my lip. "Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I won't." He turned and smiled, "So, what do you do?"

I reached for his mind. "_This_."

He jumped in shock.

"And this." The open cabinet shut.

"Whoa…" he gaped.

"I know, right." I chuckled. "Also, I can see things before they happen."

His eyebrows raised. "How?"

"Sometimes I dream of them long before they happen. Or it flashes in the heat of the moment, among other things."

"So, that's why you were so calm through everything."I nodded in reply. "You know," he laughed, "we considered you a suspect in Stark's disappearance."

"Makes sense. And when he got palladium poisoning? Suspect me in that too?"

"Not necessarily."

"Huh, well that's over now." i joked. "So, where's Romanoff? Wasn't she with him?"

"No, she's off to retrieve Dr. Bruce Banner. We need him and your uncle to track down the cube."

"What about tracking down Clint? Where he is, the cube probably is, too. I can try to track him telepathically. Plus, y'all will probably need me to keep an eye on the Captain."

"True." He got off the counter and adjusted his tie. "I'll see what I can do."

I lead him to the door. "Phil?"

"Yes?"

"I saw it."

His brow furrowed. "Saw what?"

I took a deep breath. "Was there a scepter involved? Little blue gem?" He nodded. "And everyone who got pricked with it, their eyes glow the same blue?"

His eyes widened. "How long ago?"

"A few months ago….when I last talked to Clint after his reassignment. And when he had a 'family emergency'."

He nodded and turned to leave.

"And Coulson?"He looked back at me."Not matter what happens," my eyes welled up,"bring him back. And you know why."

"You got it." I called out again when he turned to leave, but he put his hand up. "I know," he replied, "We'll try to keep him out of it."

~:~

_**"-Do it!-"**_

_Gasp._ I jolted up from my sleep.

**Ring. Ring.**

"Hello?' i said rubbing my eyes.

"_**Hi, Angie, it's Steve. I'm gonna have to take a rain-check on that lunch."**_

"Alright, we'll reschedule then." My phone beeped. "I gotta go. I'm getting another call." I hung up and answered the other.

_**"Angie, it's Natasha. Be ready in 20. I'll pick you up around then."**_

"Nat?" I yawned.

_**"Just be ready." **_**Click.**

I quickly showered and threw on some clothes. After packing my bag, I got a text from the red-head telling me she was downstairs. I raced to the car and got in.

"You made it." She smiled, handing me a coffee. "Caramel frappé with three shots of espresso."

I scrunched up my face from the rush. "_Three?_"

"Trust me." She put the car in drive. "You're gonna need it."

~:~

"So, this Loki guy came through the Tesseract and just _took it_?"

"Not necessarily, Miss Jarvis." Fury replied.

"I understand he's Asgardian, but still."

Fury turned his gaze to someone behind me. "Gentlemen!"

I stood up and turned around to see the Captain and another man I guessed was Dr. Banner. Steve slipped Fury some money. _I guess he lost a bet._ Fury walked over and shook the doctor's hand.

"Dr. Banner, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, um, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind."

Banner walks towards the techs. "Where are you with that?"

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Coulson responded. "Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"I have a colleague of mine looking into finding Selvig, as well." I offered my hand to Banner, "Angie Jarvis. Pleasure to meet you."

He shook it, "Likewise."

Natasha turned from her monitor. "Even with all that, it's still not gonna find them in time."

"You have to narrow your field. How many Spectrometers do you have access to?"

Fury crossed his arms. "How many are there?"

Banner pulled off his jacket. "Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the Spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for Gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Romanoff," Fury called over his shoulder. "Would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?"

She walked over and led Banner off the bridge. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

I walked down to where Cap is. "I see you lost a bet."

He smiled. "10 bucks said I would be surprised."

"A word of warning: don't make any bets with the King of the Spies," I whispered.

His mouth twitched. "King of the Spies?"

"That's what I call him. He's all secretive and stuff. Plus, he's the boss. Hence, King of the Spies." I looked around. "I'm guessing this was why you rain-checked."

He nodded, crossing his arms."Why are you here? You my babysitter or something?"

"No." I glanced over to the screen that had Clint's profile. "I came for other things."

"Like what?"

"My friend was taken by Loki. We're…." I wrapped my arms around me. "I would do anything to get him back. I owe it to him."

"I understand that." He put a hand on my shoulder. "We'll get him back."

I looked at him tearily. "And if y'all don't?"

He squeezed my shoulder,"We'll be right here with you."

I nodded and headed up the stairs towards the bridge. I sat down at the table and propped my feet on the table.

**Beep. Beep.** I pulled out my phone.

_**Hey, call us as soon as you can. -Logan.**_

"Excuse me, I think I got something." I got up, dialing the number.

**Ring. Ring. **_**"Hey, we got something."**_

"Okay. Shoot."

_**"Charles couldn't get a reading on the guy, but one of Hank's monitors has been going off. He says he's getting some high readings of gamma radiation."**_

"Where?"

_**"One sec. Hey, Hank!" **_He said, a voice muttering in the background. _**"He says Germany, but he can't get the exact location."**_

"That's good enough. I call you back later." I shut my phone and ran back to the bridge. "I got something." I headed towards one of the tech. "Set your scanners on Germany."

"What did you find?" Hill asked.

I caught my breath. "My friend has a monitor in his lab. It's been going of like crazy. He says it's been reading high levels of gamma."

"We got a hit. Sixty seven percent match. Wait- cross match, seventy nine percent," the tech yelled.

"Location?"

"Stuttgart, Germany."

I chewed at my lip. "He's not exactly hiding."

Fury turned to Steve. "Captain, you're up."

He nodded and walked off.

I get up from my position and move towards Coulson. "Phil, I have a bad feeling about this."

He leaned closer. "What do you mean?"

"It's a trap." My eyes darted in every which direction.

"Then, let's hope it isn't."

~:~


	18. Chapter 18

~:~

_AFTER BATTLE IN STUTTGART_

I watched as agents escorted Loki to his cell.

Phil appeared next to me. "You were saying?"

I shook my head. "Stuttgart wasn't the is."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too easy." I crossed my arms. "People like Loki wouldn't just surrender like that."

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's just see what Thor has to say."

~:~

"An army, from outer space?"

I paled. "I was...actually expecting that."

"So, he's building another portal." Banner shifted his feet. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor looked up. "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

His face hardened. "He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha explained. "Along with one of ours." I nodded in agreement as I fidgeted with my necklace.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Steve turned his chair. " He's not leading an army from here." I nodded in agreement.

Banner shook his head. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor warned. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

Natasha glared at him. "He killed eighty people in two days."

"He's adopted."

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?" Banner said.

"It's stabilizing agent." the voice moved around the table towards Thor. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD."

_Crap, crap, crap..._

"No hard feelings, Point Break. You got a mean swing." Tony patted Thor on the arm. He glared at Tony as the billionaire walked to the control panels. "Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He pointed towards one of the techs.

"That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice but we did."

I face-palmed and saw Steve's look of confusion. _Thank God you haven't noticed I'm here, Tony._

Tony covered an eye and looked at the control panels. " How does Fury even see these?"

_It's now or never. _I leaned back and crossed my arms. "He turns."

"Sounds exhausting." He whipped around in shock. "Angie? What the-."

I held up my hand. "Not now. Continue your explanation."

"Okay..Um, The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." He began messing with the screens."Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to-" He attached something under the monitor. "-kick start the Cube."

_Good God, Tony, why can't you leave things be…._

Hill stared at him. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." His smile widened. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers- am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony looked at me, pleading for help.

I held up my hands. "Don't look at me. I teach history, not…whatever you just said."

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

Banner fiddled with his glasses. "He's have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling effect," Tony interjected.

He shrugged."Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Tony held his hand out. "Finally. Someone who speaks English."

Steve turned to me and Natasha in confusion. "Is that what just happened?" I shrugged and shook my head.

"Let the nerds fan-girl it out, Steve."

Tony and Banner shake hands. "It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks…" Banner frowned.

"Nice going, Anthony." I muttered.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury interrupted. "I was hoping you might join him."

I raised my hand. "I think you should start with the staff."

Steve nodded, "I agree. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube." The agent tensed. "And I like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor's face twisted in confusion. "Monkeys? I do not understand that-."

"I do!" Steve exclaimed, as the entire room went instantly silent, staring at him. "I...I understood that reference."

I grinned at his embarrassment. Tony and Banner excused themselves to the lab and walked off.

~:~

As they analyzed the staff, I went off to find some peace.

_This is all my fault…._

_Dammit, Angie! You knew it was going to happen, and you said nothing…._

_Clint could be a zombie by this point, and you could have done something…._

As I paced up and down the corridor, berating myself, I bumped into Natasha.

"Oh! Sorry, I-"

"-Didn't see me?" she replied. "It's okay."

I turned and continued to pace.

"What's up?" she asked.

I stopped and turned to face her. "It's all my fault, Nat."

"What are you talking about?"

"The last time I talked to him, I knew something would go wrong." I groaned. "Gah! Why didn't I convince him to stick around or something?"

She held up her hand. "Who are you talking about?" I gave her a look that answered her question. "Clint?" She sighed. "You couldn't have stopped what happened."

"What if I could have?" I countered.

"He knew the risk. It's his job." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay. We'll get him back."

I nodded my head in reply, wiping away a stray tear.

"Let's hope so," I replied. "Because I don't know what I'll do if we don't"

~:~

_LATER THAT NIGHT_

…**.VIRUS DETECTED….**

_Come on, Tony. Right now?_

_**"I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear."**_

_**"You're a monster."**_

_**"No, you brought the monster."**_

_**"So, Banner that's your play…." **_My head popped up at the redheads statement _**"Sir, he means to unleash the Hulk." **_

_AH, fudge!_ Fury turns and starts heading towards the lab, I follow him hot in pursuit.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark? You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract" Fury demanded, placing his hands on his hips.

"I could ask the same of you. We'll get it back Oh, and what's Phase 2?"

Something slammed on the table behind me. "Phase Two is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons." Cap turned to Tony, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-" Fury began.

"Are you saying you were lying?" I mocked. "Surprise, surprise."

"I was wrong, Director." Steve shook his head. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Thor and Natasha entered, Banner looking to her. "Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

Banner laughed, "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

Natasha tilted her head and walked towards the doctor. "Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?" he questioned.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He grabbed the screen and pointed at the missile on it. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him." Fury pointed to Thor.

Thor held a hand to his chest. "Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," He stated."We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

Thor frowned, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like the Cube?" I shook my head in disbelief. "You can't control what you don't understand, Nick. It always ends bad. And I of all people should know that."

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor protested. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for A HIGHER FORM OF WAR."

I glance over to the scepter, noticing that it's glowing.

_Something's not right. _"Um, guys…."

"You forced our hand!" Fury exclaimed. "We had to come up with some-"

Tony interrupted. "-Nuclear deterrent? Yeah cause that always calms things down."

He glared at Tony, "And how did you make your fortune?"

My head began to spin in nauseation. _Something is DEFINITELY not right_.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-" Steve mused.

Tony waved his hand, cutting him off. "Wait-Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?"

Steve scoffed. "Isn't everything?"

_I have to get out of here._

I ran out of the room as the group began to argue. After I stumbled down the hall, an explosion rang out through the ship. I turned and ran towards the lab.

"HELLO! ANYBODY THERE?"

I heard a thundering roar. _Ah, shh….._

**"ALL HANDS ENGAGE. I REPEAT, ALL HANDS ENGAGE."**

I reached for Natasha and ran towards her location. "Nat?"

"Angie! Get out of here!" She waved me away.

I shook my head, watching her stagger to her feet. "No way. I'm not leaving you like this."

"You have to…." she panted. "Barton would kill me if you got hurt."

I scoffed. "It really doesn't matter now." I pulled out the unconscious guard's gun and cocked it. "He can kill us later."

We headed down towards detention and spotted Clint. Tasha came up behind him and he quickly turned and shot an arrow, which flew by her. She pushed his hand. He charged her and she kicked him, then rolled underneath some pipes - popping up on the other side of the catwalk.

I came running up behind him and kicked him in the knee. He shot another arrow. I dodged it as I jumped across to the next passage. I reached into his mind and tried to undo the brainwashing.

Clint hit me with his bow and pulled his bow under my neck. As I struggled to breathe, I threw my head back. I gasped for air. He grabbed the back of my head and slammed it down knocking me unconscious.

~:~

_Where am I….. I looked around and saw a blank white space. A woman appeared and walked towards me._

"_Hello, Anja."_

_I squinted and realized who it was. "Momma?"_

"_Hello, baby…." _

_I stood up and flung myself into her open arms._

"_Am I dead?"_

"_No, you came close though." She pulled away and cradled my face in her hands. "You have much more to do. Don't do it again."_

"_I can't. He's my best friend, almost my brother. I had to help him."_

_She gave me a sad look. "What would have happened if he had killed you? He would have to live with that for the rest of his life."_

"_I would do it again." _

"_What about your son? He would lose you, the only person who gave a damn about him."_

_I burst into tears and fell into her embrace. "I don't want to leave you, Momma."_

"_When have you ever been without me….."_

_A light blinded me again and the whole world faded into black._

~:~


	19. Chapter 19

_**~:~**_

_INFIRMARY_

I opened my eyes to a bright light. _Am I dead?_

As my vision cleared, I noticed tubes and IVs stuck into my body. _Nope not dead._

I panicked and started to pull them out. The monitors blared and a nurse came rushing in.

"Hold on, hold on!" She grabbed my hands. "Let's get you checked out first."

I shook my head and tried to speak. She shushed me and handed me a glass of water. "Here drink this" I gulped down the liquid and coughed roughly.

"Cli-i-i-int?"

She handed me another glass. "Let us clear you first."

The doctor came and checked my injuries. Once he gave the okay, the nurse helped me clean up. I looked in the mirror, and noticed the bruising around my neck. The nurse left and came back with a high collared shirt.

"You don't need to cover that with makeup just yet. Your trachea is still bruised so you don't need to put pressure on it." I nodded my head and finished getting ready.

The doctor came in and checked me one last time, "Just be careful and don't stress yourself too much."

"Aye, aye, doc."

I looked out the window and saw Tony run down towards the room.

"Are you okay?" He came up and hugged me.

"I'm fine," I winced at the pain. "But can you please let go?"

"Sorry," he pulled away. "Forgot about that."

"It's okay. Don't worry."

He pulled at my collar. "So how'd this happen?"

I jerked his hand away. "Not if your going to hurt him."

"I'm not. Unless him is Loki. Then, I have to." Tony crossed his arms. "You don't have to tell me now. Just, remember that you still have to tell me about all this. From the beginning"

"I will...when this is over."

Tony nodded. "Good."

I noticed him fidgeting. _Something's totally up._ "Tony… what happened?"

"That agent. Coulson. He um…" _Died_.

I nodded. _You didn't even have to tell me._ "Loki?"

"Yeah. But he got away."

I got up off the bed and walked towards the door. "Then, make him pay."

He nodded. "Stay safe. Don't do anything I would do."

I smirked. "How do you think I'm still alive?"

"Touche." He said as he followed me out. "Well, I'll be in the workshop."

"Hey, Tony?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

"I have a son." His face paled. "And no it wasn't Grant's doing."

"I know," he replied. I cocked my head in confusion. "I heard some kid on your phone call you 'mom' one day. I also had JARVIS run some stuff. Which reminds me…." he raised a brow. "_Hela Bell_?"

_Dammit, Murdock. _"Don't ask, okay." He gave me a thumbs up in reply. "Stay safe."

"You too, kid."

After he left, the nurse led me to Clint's room.

I saw Natasha at the edge of the bed. She looked up and glanced over to the bathroom.

"Angie?"

I turned to see Clint in the doorway. I ran up and hugged him. When he hugged me tighter, it put pressure on my throat and I began to cough erratically.

Natasha handed me some water and helped me sit down. She unzipped the collar of my shirt, exposing the bruise that covered my neck.

"I did this, didn't I?"Clint gently brushed his fingers near the bruise.

I started shaking my head."Clint, don't do this to yourself," I croaked. "You weren't in control."

"It doesn't matter, Ange. What if I had killed you? Huh? I would have to live with that for the rest of my life." I could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

I put a hand on his cheek. "But you didn't."

"Time to go." I turned to see Cap.

"Go where?" Tasha asked.

"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

Clint stood up."I can." Cap looked to us and we nodded in confirmation.

"Got a suit?" Clint nodded. "Then suit up." Cap turned to leave, then stopped. "Angie. I'm glad you're okay."

I smiled. "If I wasn't, then I wouldn't be me." He smirked and stepped out into the hall.

After Tasha left, Clint grabbed his bag and put on his gear. "Stay here until this blows over." I quirked a brow and crossed my arms. "You know what I mean, Ange."

"On one condition." I walked up to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "Come back."

"Ange-"

I shook my head. "No, Clint. I know you can't but at least try. Please." I lifted my hands to his cheeks. "I lost you once. I don't want to lose you again."

He kissed my forehead and gently hugged me. "I know. But this time I promise you that I will come back. I will come back from the dead if i have to." When I tensed, he pulled back immediately. "Sorry..."

I turned and sat on the bed."It's not the neck. When you said that you'd come back from the-."

He nodded. "I know. I miss him too, kid."

"He just died...And I couldn't do anything." I looked down and stared at my hands.

"Angie, no one could." He sat beside me and took my hand in his. "Don't beat yourself up about this."

"You don't understand, Clint." I looked up tearily. "First, it was you, and then…." I sobbed.

Clint threw and arm around my shoulder and rocked me back and forth as I broke down. "Shhh, it's gonna be okay."

As my sobs subsided, Tasha walked in. "It's time."

He stood up and threw his quiver on his back. "I'll be back."

I nodded, giving him a smile. "Keep everybody safe." Shooting up from my seat, I shouted out for Clint. Once he turned around, I took a deep breath, "When you get back, we need to have a long talk."

~:~

_HELICARRIER- COMMAND DECK_

Fury turned around. "Ah, Miss Jarvis. It's good to see you up. Maybe you can help us."

"What do you need?"

"First. help us get our communications back on," he motioned to his main computer. "I don't care what you have to do. I need eyes on everything going on down there."

My fingers danced across the screens, re-coding and decoding everything. "Aye, aye, Captain." The system was difficult but not impossible, but then _one, two, three…_ "Got it. You got eyes from Harlem to Financial."

Hill gawked. "That was fast."

I shrugged. "Not my first rodeo."

"Stark teach you that?" Fury asked crossing his arms.

"Nope, I had to learn to clean up his mess." I smirked. "Did you really think he only hacked the Pentagon?"

He shook his head. "Remind me to talk with you about that after we save the world."

"You know I was kind of joking, right?" I walked over and sat in one of the chairs

"You definitely are a Stark." He muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. Grinning, I leaned back with my hands behind my head and put my feet on the table.

My phone starts buzzing. _Logan…. _"Hello?"

_**"Angie, what the heck is going on?"**_

"Um, I kinda can't tell you. Classified info."

_**"Really, cause right now I'm watching a dude in spangly spandex, a giant green dude, your robot uncle, a bearded lady, Robin Hood, and a supermodel fight giant lizards from outer space."**_

"How much time did it take for you to come up with that elaborate explanation?"

"_**Does-"**_

"Rhetorical Logan! Look," I dropped my voice lower, "I'll tell you more when I come back, okay."

_**"Fine." **_**Click.** _Wow, someone's beer turned._

I looked up and noticed Fury staring at me. "What was that, Miss Jarvis?"

"Um," _Crap, crap, crap._ "That friend that helped us track the Tesseract. He, uh, was making sure we found it." He raised a brow. "And I wasn't going to tell him anything over the phone and risk anything. I am smarter than that."

"Whatever you say." He turned back to the screen. "Just remember-."

"Sir," Hill's face paled. "The Council is calling."

He pressed the screen. "I'm a little busy here." I couldn't hear what they said but then Fury shouted, "I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it."

My head popped up. _What the heck are they doing?_ I looked over and see Hill panicking.

"That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman." Fury's face hardened. "Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population….I'd send that bird out, we already have." He shut the transmission off and stormed away from it.

Hill looked at him."What are we gonna do?"

"Let's hope they-"

I noticed something on the screen and pointed. "Uh, guys…"

Hill walked up and her eyes widened. "Sir, we have a bird in motion!" Fury ran off the bridge."Anyone on the deck we have a rogue bird. We need to shut it down! Repeat, takeoff is not authorized!"

I watched the screen as he destroyed the first aircraft but missed the second. _No, no, no_. I pull out my phone. "JARVIS call Tony."

**"I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark is unavailable-."** _Are you kidding me!_

Fury ran onto the bridge, yelling in his earpiece. "Stark, you hear me? You have a missile headed straight for the city...Three minutes. Max. Stay load can wipe out Midtown."

My eyes bore into the screen as I watched Tony race for the missile. He caught up and started to turn it toward the portal. My phone started ringing. _Tony…._ The words from my dreams rung in my ears. _No, please, no._ "Tony?"

_"Yeah, kid. It's me. Look-"_

My eyes watered. "Please, don't do this. I still have to tell you everything."

_"Tell me, keep me company. Tell me 'bout that friend Clint."_

" 'Kay, um. Remember when you were sick? Well, SHIELD assigned him to keep an eye on me."

_"Like Romanoff?"_

"Yeah, and one thing lead to another and we became friends. And then he got reassigned to find-"

_"I love you kid."_ The call shut off and the line went static.

"Tony? Tony!" I turn back to the screen as the portal begins to close. "Tony, no!" As it closes, i see something fall from the portal. "Hill, what is that?"

She zooms in closer. "It's Stark…"

_Please, no._ His body plummets to the ground. _He's not slowing down_. The Hulk grabs him and slides down the building, placing him by the others. "Hill, patch me in." She hands me an earpiece. "Cap?"

**"Angie? What are-"**

"Is he okay?"

**"I don't-"** I hear the Hulk roar through the comm.

Suddenly, I hear Tony gasp. _**"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."**_

Cap laughed. **"Yeah, Angie. He's okay."**

I turned to Hill. "Does this patch through to all of them?" When she nodded, I called out, "Tony?"

_**"Hey, kid. So you were at reassignment."**_

I chuckled. "You're not done yet, get back to work. I'll see you later."

_**"Fine!"**_

"One more thing. DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN."

_**"I love you too kid. Meet us at the shawarma place on 6th in 30."**_

"So now that this is over," I turned off the comm and looked at the two spies. "It was only Burger King. He insisted that he had to know what was in their secret sauce."

Fury chuckled. "We already knew that, Miss. It's just fun to watch your skin crawl."

I mocked disgust. "Well, I'll be going then. Something about shawarma."

~:~

We ate there in silence, until Tony said, "So, where were we? Reassignment?"

I wiped my mouth. "So, bro-friend here got reassigned to New Mexico until Loki. He came to visit once, but very briefly."

"Wait, that was it? No emotional reunions or sweet battles?" He frowned.

"Only in video games. Other than that, nope," I said popping my lip. "Anything else you want to know?"

Tony leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, how'd you and Capsicle meet?"

"Fury asked me to come in for a consultation. When I got there, Cap was a literally a Capsicle." I said taking a bite of my taco. "They wanted me to help him adapt to the twenty-first century."

"Adapted yet, Cap?" He gave Steve the cheesiest grin.

He shrugged. "Mostly. Still learning."

"Anything else, Tony," I said. "Or are you going to interrupt my taco again?"

He shook his head and then we went back to eating in silence.

~:~

_HELICARRIER_

"You what?"

"You heard me." I took a sip of my beer.

He uncrossed his legs and leaned back against the wall. "How long?"

"Over a year ago," I replied. "He asked me to. It was kinda hard to say no; he's a cute kid."

"Tony know?"

I nodded in reply. "He figured it out and I just confirmed it."

"How old is he again?"

"15."

"You're crazy, you know that? You're what, 27?" he grinned.

"Tony was bound to rub off on me sometime."

He laughed," True, true." He gulped down the last of his beer and crushed the can. "How's the research thing going?"

I sighed. "Not much more than what I knew last time I saw you."

"Which is….." I inwardly groaned and proceeded to tell him what I had learned.

"So, you're telling me that he's like your what?" I gave him a look.

"You think I realize that."

"You sound crazy, you know."He shook his head.

"Have I ever been wrong?"

He bobbed his head."A few times." I crossed my arms.

"Oh, really?" I said, crossing my arms. "Name one time." He sat there trying to think of something, and threw up his hands in defeat..

"Fine! You win."

"Uh huh, that's what I thought." I undid my ponytail and shook out my brown locks.

"What are you gonna do after tomorrow?"

"Don't know yet. Fury said that Cap is adjusted mostly. They don't need me anymore," I replied. "Probably visit Westchester and go on some crazy road trip. Wanna come?"

"Westchester, no; crazy road trip, maybe."

"What do you mean maybe? There will be alcohol and beautiful people."

He turned and narrowed his eyes at me. "Who are you and what have you done with Angie? She doesn't love either of those things."

"What are you talking about?" I scoff. "I enjoy a drink from time to time and I do admire men from afar."

"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "And aren't you not so secretly dating that agent?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I have my sources."

"Which is…."

"I may or may not have had Tasha follow you around while I was in New Mexico."

"Anyways…."I replied, rolling my eyes. "No, we aren't dating. At least not anymore."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Doesn't matter anymore. And back to our other conversation: It's been a long three days and I've lost almost three people to an alien invasion." I crossed my arms. "I think I deserve a vacation. Plus, it's time me and my kid had some family bonding time."

"True. But if we do take a road trip, I have just the place to bring you."

My face paled. "You're not going to kill me are you?"

"What for? Going after me? Nah, we cool." He laughed. "You'll see where. You'd love it."

"Really? Hmm, it must be special. So…" I smirked. "What's up with Budapest? And why do you and Nat remember it differently?"

"Natasha." He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Well I guess it's time you knew." I turned my body towards him and crossed my legs, sitting there like a little kid. He laughed, "Well, it was nighttime and I heard this rustling…."

~:~

_LATER THAT NIGHT_

I walked down towards the bridge and saw the others. Thor looked up. "Ah, milady. 'Tis most wondrous to see you well. I apologize for my brother Loki's trouble."

"It's okay, Thor. But can you promise me something?"

"Anything, Lady Jarvis."

The corner of my mouth quirked up."Can I punch him before you two leave?"

His mouth twitched. "I think that can be arranged."

I pumped my fist and ran towards the training room, as the others laughed. "Clint! I need you!"

~:~

_THE NEXT DAY- CENTRAL PARK_

We gathered to see Thor off with Loki. After the others had said their goodbyes, I walked up to Thor and hugged him. As I walked over to Loki, I glanced at Clint who gave me a thumbs up and to Thor who nodded. And I punched Loki so hard, he'll be feeling it till Ragnarok.

"That's from me. And Coulson." I turned away and strutted away as Heimdall whisked them away.

"Nice punch," Steve said when I walked up to him.

"What do you think Clint was helping me with? Didn't want to break my hand." I jammed my hands in the pockets of my jacket. "So, where are you going after this?"

He shrugged. "Stay here until Fury reassigns me somewhere else."

"Sounds good." I said waving goodbye to Tony. "Um, I've also been meaning to talk with you. I need your help."

"What do you mean?"

I shifted my footing. "Remember my mom's journals?" He nodded. "Well, I found some information. That's where you and your beautiful mind come in."

He furrowed his brows. "How?"

"Does the name James Buchanan Barnes mean anything to you?"

~:~

_**Hey guys, thanks for reading.**_

_**So, this next part which goes through Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron might take a while. There's an aspect that I'm trying to get through, but I keep finding a dead end.**_

_**Send me some ideas **__**this way**__** through PM or review and maybe it'll clear up some of my writer's block.**_

_**See y'all next time! Goodbyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeee!**_


	20. Chapter 20

**_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I actually took a break for a few weeks to mull things over, and I ended up pretty happy with how things are turning. So, for anybody who read Proxima: Beginnings and/or Proxima: Rhapsodies, things will be...different..._**

**_Thanks for listening to my rambling and enjoy the chapter_**

**_-Sera_**

**_~:~_**

**_XAVIER MANSION_**

As I drove into the garage, I was greeted by a familiar face. "Hey, Logan. How's it going?"

He frowned."What do you think? You didn't give me an explanation when I last called you."

"Let's just get inside. I think this is something all of y'all want to hear."

~:~

"So, they shut down the Tesseract and captured Loki, sending him on his way to sweet Asgardian justice. Plus, I planted a nice punch across that smug face of his."

"That's my girl," Logan chuckled.

"What's the plan now?" Scott asked.

"Not sure. I'll-" The door burst open and Marcos ran in, hugging me. "Hey, buddy," I muttered, turning back to Warren. "I'll deal with it along the way. And thank you for y'alls help with the cube."

"All we did was tell you about the machines," Hank replied.

"Y'all did more than that, Hank. You helped me get my friend back. I can't thank you enough for that."

"How is he, my dear? " the professor asked.

"Better than he could be, but he's getting there," I replied. "But it's not Clint who-"

Suddenly the alarms went off.

"Sorry to interrupt." Logan turned and grinned at me. "Wanna join us? It'll be like old times."

"Nah, I've had enough excitement this week." I hugged him. "Have fun. Stay safe. Punch ole Sabretooth for me."

He saluted me, running after the others towards the Blackbird.

I wrapped my arms around Marcos and pulled him tight. "I missed you so much."

"You almost died, didn't you?"

"I…"I sighed. "Yeah, I almost did…" I let go of him and placed my hands on his shoulders. "But I'm here now and everything's going to be okay."

He nodded. "Now what?"

"Pack your bags, and you'll find out." His eyes widened and he took off.

I walked outside, watching the Blackbird fly off. I heard steps behind me and thoughts even louder. "What do you want, Warren?"

"Can't I just say hi for once?"

I turned around and gave him a pointed look. "No, you can't . Because every time you come around, you always want to talk. Well, you had your chance six years ago. You blew it."

"Don't you think I know that, Ange! I regret what I did. I know you were trying to help. "

"Then, why did you push me away?"

He opened his mouth and closed it shut, and finally spoke. "I didn't want to hurt you more than I already did. "

"Did you ever stop to think that pushing me away hurt more?" He stood there speechless. "That's what I thought."

I turned and started to walk away. "I'm leaving tonight. Tell the others I'll call them when I get settled." He nodded and I walked off leaving the winged mutant behind me.

~:~

"Are you sure about this, Mom?"

"Not at all, but it doesn't hurt to try." He gave me a nervous look. "Trust me, everything's going to be fine."

"Last time you said that, you almost died," he replied.

"I know, bud…" I grabbed my bag from the backseat. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"Okay…" He grabbed his bag too and followed me out of the car.

"Let's head inside." We started walking towards the house, but I stopped. "Maybe we should tell them we're here."

"Why?"

I shook my head. "Don't ask."

"_**Angie, we've been watching you for the past ten minutes. Get in here."**_

"Nevermind then."

"_**And how dare you insinuate that-" **_Tony's voice cut off.

Once we got inside, Tony continued his sentence. "How dare you insinuate that-"

"Tony, shut up!" I clamped my hands over Marcos' ears. "Keep his innocent ears clean, please. I already had to have a talk about _colorful_ language."

"Whatever..."

I let go of Marcos's head. "Thank you." I rested my hands on his shoulders. "So, this is Marcos. And Marcos, this is my Uncle Tony and Pepper, his…."

_Girlfriend..._Pepper said.

"Girlfriend."

Pepper held out her hand. "Pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Pleasure to meet you, too." Marcos replied, shaking her hand.

"Come on, I'll show you around while they talk."

Marcos tensed up. _Code Red! _

I smiled. _She already knows about us. It's okay…._ He relaxed and followed her out of the room.

"What's up with him?" Tony asked. "Seemed a little tense."

"He came from a bad situation. He's...still working on trusting people." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "And he's tense? Have you seen yourself?"

"Yes, I have; handsome as ever."

I cocked my head. "You're not sleeping. I can see the bags under your eyes."

"I'm perfectly fine," he exclaimed. "It's not like I went through a wormhole and almost died or anything."

"Tony, stop this. You need help."

"For them to tell me everything I already know?"

I sighed. "Last time you didn't get help, you almost died from palladium poisoning. I will not lose you."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Tony, that's-" I saw Pepper and Marcos coming down the hallway. "Hey, bud. What'd ya think?"

"This place is awesome," he replied.

"You should see the tower when it gets fixed," Tony said. "You're gonna love that place even more."

I smiled."Okay, bud. What's the rules?"

"Stay away from the basement, alcohol, and the record player. Ask the robot butler for help-"

"_Robot butler?_" Tony shrieked.

Marcos rolled his eyes, "Sorry, Ask _JARVIS_ for help. And don't break anything?"

"Depends on what you break," I replied. "Just be careful."

Pepper smiled. "So, how does pizza sound? We can watch a movie while we eat."

"Sounds good to me."

Tony raised his hand. "I second that."

"Me three."

"Alright," Pepper laughed, dialing the number. "Pizza it is."

~:~

After Marcos passed out from exhaustion, Tony headed down to the lab, leaving me and Pepper alone.

"You doing okay, sweetie?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Pep. First, the breakup. Then, Warren came back. And...New York. I…" My eyes started to well up. "I don't know if I will be fully okay for a while."

"What happened with Grant?"

"I found out something about him, and he found out a certain something about me."

_Your powers…_Pepper shook her head. "How?"

"His job. And some other things."

"What'd you find out about him?"

I shook my head. "If I told you, someone could get hurt." _Please don't ask…._

"And Warren?"

"He keeps _visiting_…every once in a while." I pointed down the hall. "Marcos got involved once. He almost hurt Warren."

"Haven't y'all tried to be civil with each other?" she asked. "For everyone else's sake?"

I ran a hand over my face. "Yes, I have. But I can't get what happened out of my head." I sighed, "That's why I want Tony to get help, to talk to someone. Because I know what it's like to go through hell and back."

"You'll never be over it, Angie. Tony, too. You have to learn to embrace it, and not let it define you or your life," she replied. "When you met Grant, I thought maybe you had learned that and I guess I was wrong."

"It was…amicable to say the least. I thought he was the one but he wasn't."

~:~


	21. Chapter 21

**_Here's y'all another chapter! Remember that reviews are a writer's best friend._**

_**~:~**_

"_NO!"_

I bolted up, hearing Tony's screams. "JARV, what's going on?"

"**Mr. Stark seems to be experiencing a nightmare. I'd highly advise you not to awaken him."**

"Screw that." I sprinted towards his room, and saw Pepper trying to shake him awake. He shot up, gasping for air.

Marcos ran up the hall. "Mom, what's-"

"Shhh…" I replied, pushing him back towards his room. "Let's just get back to bed."

~:~

_**NEXT MORNING**_

As I ate breakfast, Tony walked in and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"What happened last night?" I asked.

He shook his head."Nothing. Everything's fine."

"Heard you scream. NIghtmares?"

"Angie," he replied, "I'm fine."

I dropped my fork on my plate. "Stop telling me you are okay. You are not okay!"

"I am not having this conversation."

"Yes, you are!" When he turned to leave, I grabbed his arm. "Tony, you need help."

He looked away, avoiding my eyes. "Nobody would understand…."

"Uncle Tony…." My eyes welled up with tears. "Please…Even if it's Banner or Pepper or….me. Just talk to someone."

His jaw clenched as he shook his head. I slowly released his arm, and stormed off.

~:~

"_**-My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you ...-"**_

_**A man glowed orange….**_

"_**-I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body…-"**_

_**An explosion ripped through the square….**_

"_**-There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me ...-"**_

_**Happy's bloody body laid on the ground….**_

"_**-And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880, Malibu Port, 90265….-"**_

_**A missile headed towards the mansion….**_

"_**-I'll leave the door unlocked ...-"**_

_**Blowing it to pieces, and sending Tony down into the sea….**_

I woke up, gasping. _Dammit, Tony...What are you going to get yourself into?_

~:~

"Do you have to go?"

"I'm sorry, Pepper. I'm done with all this. " I replied gesturing to the air around me. "I can't stay here and watch him hurt himself anymore. "

"You're just giving up!"

"No, I...Maybe I am. But that doesn't change anything. " I pointed towards the window. "That portal did something to him. It messed with his head. He's going to..."

"Going to what?" she asked. I shook my head. "What did you see?"

"He's going to do something that will bite him back."

"That's why he needs you. "

"No, Pep. He needs to learn this himself. I can't teach him everything anymore."

She nodded. "What do you plan on doing?"

"I don't know yet." I shrugged. "I thought about moving to D.C., helping Hank out at his office."

"What about Marcos?"

I sighed. "I don't know...I guess we'll just see where life takes us."

"Okay, just…." she pulled me into a hug. "Y'all two just stay safe."

~:~

"Why can't I go? It's just school."

"Marcos," I groaned. "You are already behind, you have to go to school."

"I can just take the work with me," he replied.

"Marcos! I said no." He huffed and slumped in his chair. "I don't know what's going to happen with Clint. He may be my friend, but I don't know if I trust him enough with you, okay?"

"Fine...Just bring me back something cool."

I wrapped him up in a hug, earning a whine from the fifteen-year-old. "Oh, stop. You know you love it."

~:~

UNSPECIFIED LOCATION

"Okay, Clint. Where are you taking me?"

"You'll have to wait and see." He smiled as he drove through the hills.

A couple hours later, we drove up to a farmhouse.

"Dude, it's a farm. What's so top secret about it? " The door creaked open and revealed a woman and two kids.

"Them." He led me towards them. "Angie, meet Laura. My wife. "

She held out her hand to me. "I've heard a lot about you. Pleasure to finally meet you."

I shook her hand. "Me too. Who are these little guys?" I moved down to the kids' level. "My name's Angie, what's yours? "

The boy hid behind his mother's leg, while the little girl ran up and hugged me.

"I Li'a" the girl lisped.

Laura laughed. "This is Cooper. Sorry he's a little shy. But I'm sure he'll warm up to you. He did to Tasha."

"Tasha? Of course she knows."

Clint picked up Lila and threw her in the air. "Come on, sis. Let's show you around."

~:~

I collapsed in the rocking chair, earning a chuckle from Clint.

"Those kids wipe you out?"

"Nah," I replied, "I'm used to that. Just a little bit out of shape."

"So, why didn't you bring the kid?"

"He's behind enough in school."

He snorted. "Whatever. I know that's not why. You don't trust me enough with him." I opened my mouth to reply. "No, don't argue. You know it's true."

"It's…." I began. "It's complicated."

Laura knocked on the doorframe. "Everything okay out here?" Clint smiled in reply.

"Everything's alright, sweetheart. We're just having a heart-to-heart."

I noticed the bags under her eyes. "Laura, why don't you go up to bed. We'll clean up the kitchen for you."

"I don't know…."

"Laura," Clint replied. "Go to bed." He stood up and kissed her on the forehead. "We got this."

"Alright...See y'all in the morning, I guess."

I gave her a smile. "See ya…."

Clint whispered something in her ear, earning a nod in reply. Once she got up the stairs, he turned back to me.

"Come on, let's get stuff cleaned up."

I followed him into the kitchen. "Is she alright? She looks like she hasn't slept in a while."

"Well...she's dealing with C….her dad's death." _Wait a second...Her dad is…._

"Coulson...Coulson's her dad…." Clint nodded his head as he started wiping down the counters. My face paled. "Oh God...how did you..."

"I broke me, but I had to tell her, the kids. Gah, the kids…." His eyes glistened with tears.

"Did...did you tell them what happened to you?"

Clint shook his head. "How do I tell them that I was brainwashed into working with the guy that killed their grandpa?" He scoffed, "Heck no, I didn't tell them." He threw the rag in the sink. "I-"

"Daddy?"

"Lila?" Clint said. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Can't sleep…." She slowly made her way over to him so he could pick her up.

I ran my hand through her hair. "You too, huh?" She nodded in reply. I took her from Clint. "Come'ere, Lila. Why don't you have a sleepover with me tonight?"

"Can Cooper come too? He's sad too," she asked, lip pouted.

"Sure thing, kiddo…." I set her down. "Go get y'alls stuff and I'll be up there in a second." After she bolted off, I turned back to Clint.

"Angie…."

I held my hand up. "Don't, Clint. Your kids are hurting. Right now they need someone there to tell them it's going to be alright." I started towards the door and Clint stopped me.

"It's not that. It's just…." he began. "Thank you." I smiled in reply and headed towards my room.

~:~

"Story, Miss Angie?" Lila whined.

"A story? What kind of story?"

Cooper shot up. "One 'bout you and Dad!"

"Yeah! You and Dad!"

I laughed. "Okay...Well, one day, I was making and breakfast and dancing, when suddenly a man in a spy suit showed up."

"Dad?"

"Not yet sweetie. When I turned around, I screamed. And he said," I lowered my voice, "'_You're in serious danger. Here's one of my spies to protect you.' _And I told him, '_No, I can fight for myself.'_ "

"Yeah!" Lila shrieked.

"Shh…" I whispered. "Mommy and Daddy are sleeping." She covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. "Anyways… I finally agreed and another agent came in. He was tall, dark and brooding. And…."

"LIke Batman?" Cooper asked.

I shrugged. "Kinda...But he smelled the pancakes I was making and his stomach growled." I pulled the covers over them. "And once I gave him the pancakes, he turned into this big old puppy dog."

Lila gasped. "The super secret agent gave you a puppy? Where is he? I want to see him!"

"Well, that's the thing, sweetie. I kept feeding him pancakes and he started turning into a person again."

"Oh, no, Daddy got turned into a dog!" Lila exclaimed. "How'd that happen?"

"Beats me kiddo," I replied. "But guess what? You know how puppy's stay your friend forever?" Both kids nodded. "Your dad still stayed my friend after he turned back. And he was also really good at playing video games." I cocked my head to the side. "It was weird, but it was cool."

The kids started to yawn. "Auntie?"

_Wait, Auntie? _"Yeah, Lila?"

She snuggled into the pillow, Cooper doing the same. "Thanks for saving my daddy from being a puppy forever." She yawned again. "Even if it would have been cool."

I smiled to myself. "Your welcome sweetie…." I brushed the hair from their faces as they drifted off. " 'Night sweethearts…."

~:~


	22. Chapter 22

_**hey guys... Yeah I know it's been months since I updated and I apologize for that. Life's been a little hectic with work, school and life in general.**_

_**I can't promise that I'll update soon but I will release the next chapter as soon as I can. Enjoy and let me know in the reviews how you're liking the story. **_

_**And now on to the show...**_

_**~•~**_

"Clint, when I ask you this, I want you to be completely honest with me." I said, throwing the hay bale over the fence.

"Okay…." He dusted his hands off. "Fire away, Ange."

"When you were my bodyguard," I began. "Did Fury ask you to spy on me?"

Clint tensed up. "Why do you ask that?"

"Just answer the question."

He closed his eyes, and sighed. "What do you want me to tell you? Because whatever he did ask me doesn't really matter."

"I'm sorry I don't see it that way." I replied, crossing my arms. "What did you find?"

"After the incident, he was worried that you might lash out or worse."

"I was fine after the fact."

He shrugged. "Just for extra precautions, I guess. I studied your relationships: Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, coworkers, etc. At first, I thought you acted strange around Pepper, but…."

I raised a brow. "But what?"

"I realised you acted weird around everyone except her. Like you were hiding something."

"We all have our secrets don't we."

"Not with family."

Not with family….

I sighed. "There are somethings that I don't talk to Tony about. Maybe it's because I turned into him, not asking for help. Maybe I'm scared. Maybe I am so ashamed that I bottle it up, and I am just waiting to explode." I looked down and noticed my hands shaking.

Clint walked over and grabbed my hands. "Look at me." I kept staring at my hands, shivers running down my spine. He grabbed my chin forcing me to look at him. "Ange, talk to me."

My vision blurred and I fell to the ground.

_**"Steve, shut up." I closed my eyes, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.**_

_**"Yes, you lost your team. You lost your best friend." I gulped. "I lost everyone. My father, my husband, my boys, my little-" I choked. "I have no one, Steve."**_

_**He shook his head. "You have us."**_

_**"No, Steve. I haven't had y'all in a long time."**_

I gasped, bolting up from my slumber.

"Ange, can you hear me?"

Laura called out from the house. "Clint, are you sure we don't need to-"

"She's up, honey. She's okay." He placed his hand on my cheek, giving me a quick once-over. "Ange, talk to me."

"I need to lie down." My eyes began to droop.

Clint tapped me on the cheek. "No you don't." He slowly stood me up and slung my arm over his shoulders. "When was the last time this happened?"

"When what happened?"

"You passing out and muttering something about losing everyone?"

I gulped. "I don't know…." What's happening to me….

"Well, you must know something," he argued, stopping in his tracks. "Because you did the same thing in Malibu."

"I did?" My voice shook. "What did I say?"

"That someone was coming, and no one could stop it." He sighed. "You never said why, but Fury got extremely nervous." He started us towards the house again. "Let's please just leave it at that."

~:~

A few nights after the incident, I found myself in the barn again, tinkering with the old tractor.

Everyone was inside fast asleep, but I couldn't. My mind wouldn't shut up. Voices and images flashed in my head; Apocalypse, New York, and our impending doom.

Who could sleep with that on their conscience?

I continued to pull out parts, replacing them along the way. A voice called out, causing me to hit my head on the hood.

"You know, Jarvis," Fury said as he came out of his shadow. "If you keep this up, I'm gonna have to start calling you Stark Jr."

I smirked. "Like you haven't been calling me that already." I hopped down and wiped the grease off my hands. "What are you doing here? And this late at night?"

"I need your help."

~:~

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"I'm never sure, Laura, but I try to be." I grabbed the last of my things, throwing it in the bag. "I have to….for everyone's sake."

"If you ever need a place to stay, our door is always open."

I gave her a smile. "That's the greatest thing anyone could ask for." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah…." she murmured. "I guess it is." She pulled me into a hug. "Call me when you get settled, okay?" I nodded in reply. "Okay…."

She followed me out to the car where Clint was waiting for me. I turned around and gave her one last hug.

"Thank you...for everything."

"Your welcome." She smiled. "Take care of yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."

As I got in the car, I gave the farm one last look.

"Come on, Ange. It's not like you're never gonna see them again."

_Maybe...just maybe..._

~:~

"You're back!" Marcos said, running up the driveway. "What'd you bring me?"

I smiled, opening the trunk of the car. "Well, I didn't get you anything. But…." I pulled out a bag. "Your new Uncle Clint told me to give you this."

Marcos opened it eyes widening in excitement. "How did he…."

"A little bird told him you loved video games just as much as him."

"Thank you," he replied.

"No problemo, bud." I slung my bag over my shoulder, and closed the trunk. "Let's get inside. I'm pretty sure the others are waiting for me."

Once we walked in, Logan came running around the corner. "Marcos, I told you-" He stopped in his tracks. "You're back."

"Yeah, I am."

He snorted. "You know for someone who retired recently, you sure come around a lot." I stuck my tongue out at him in reply.

"Nice to see you too, Logan."

"Now, back to what I was saying…." He glared at Marcos. "I told you to stop running off after training-"

"-Training? What training?" I barked. Both tensed in response.

"I've kind of been training with Logan's group for the past month."

"Logan!" I exclaimed, glaring at the Canadian."I told you to teach him how to use his powers, NOT train him to be an Xman."

"Well, he is but…."

"But what?"

Marcos shrugged. "How can I learn if I can't defend myself against other mutants?"

"It's not that, Marcos." I ran a hand over my face. "Can you give me and Logan a minute? We can talk more about this later."

He glared at me in reply. "We need to talk about this now or we never will."

"Marcos, go," Logan barked. Marcos huffed, quickly running off. "What did you expect me to do, Ange? He has his mind made up; You can't change that."

"He's just a kid. I don't want him to-" I choked back a sob.

Logan pulled me into his arms. "It's not gonna happen, Ange." I shook my head.

"Yes, it will, Logan. I don't know when, but he will."

"Then, let him fight," he replied. "So he'll be ready."

"He's just a kid."

"So, were you. And you were the best of us."

I ripped myself from his arms. "It still doesn't change anything."

"Come to the Danger Room tomorrow. Watch him. Maybe it will change." He raised his brows. "Can't hurt anything, will it?"

I brushed past him. "I'll think about it."

~:~

**LATER THAT NIGHT**

"So…." Marcos drawled. "We gonna talk about this?"

I dug at my food. "Why do you want to fight? Be honest."

"At first, it was because everyone was doing it."

"And that's a good reason?" I questioned.

"You wanted me to be honest," he replied. "So, here it is: when Logan told me what happened to you, it set it in stone. I was gonna be an X-man. I was going to defend humans and mutants so that nothing like that would ever happen again.

"I want to fight because you and Logan and everyone else aren't always going to be here. And I know you know that too. So, please...don't blame Logan or me for wanting to do what's right."

Tears welled up in my eyes. All this time of keeping him away from training, I didn't realise why he did it. How could I keep him from that?

"One more thing:" I wiped away a stray tear. "What haven't you asked about Warren?"

"Logan told me not to ask. That you'd tell me in your own time."

"It's time." I took a deep breath. "I met Warren when I was fifteen. Tony was working on a project with Warren's dad. We became friends and we just...clicked. One day, we both figured out we had powers and that made us closer. He was alone and so was I, and…" A smile slowly crept onto my face.

"A year later, we started dating. We were joined at the hip. The perfect team. We could talk about anything. We didn't need to worry about revealing our secret. Another two years later, we got engaged."

"You two were engaged?" He gulped. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, we were. And soon after, Apocalypse showed up and….you know the rest." My jaw slacked. "After he was...sane ...we tried to make it work. But he pushed me away. And we haven't been good since."

"Mom, it's not your fault."

I shook my head. "Yes, it is. I'm the reason Apocalypse got him."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"I-" I froze, vision blurred, throat constricted.

"Mom?" I fell to the floor. "Mom!"

And my world went dark.

~:~

(NO ONE'S POV)

"Mom!" Marcos bolted to the door. "Someone, help!"

Logan and Jean ran down the hall.

"We were just talking and she just dropped."

Logan knelt down and took her face in his hands. "Angie, talk to me."

She muttered something inaudible to the others.

"Jean, I know she's gonna hate this but-"

"-she can yell at me later." Jean placed her hand on her forehead and quickly pulled away with a shriek.

"What?"

"Something threw me out." She cradled her head. "We need the Professor."

"I am already here," the Professor said, rolling into the room. "Sit her up." He placed his hand on her head, reacting the same as Jean. "She's having a vision. We can't stop her."

Logan looked down. "She's not breathing. Angie, wake up!" He placed a finger to her neck. "Barely has a pulse. We need to get her to Hank. NOW."

"Mom, wake up!"

And with that she bolted up, gasping for air.

~:~

/


	23. Chapter 23

/

*_CHAPTER 23_*

~:~

I bolted up, gasping for air.

"Angie, you okay?" I heard Logan ask as my vision began to clear. He grasped my face. "Angie, talk to me."

"What happened?" I tried to sit up.

"Take it easy. You passed out and were muttering on about something," he said.

My hand went to my forehead. "Not again."

"Again?," Jean asked. "What do you mean again?"

"I need to lie down." My eyes began to droop again.

Logan tapped me on the face. "No you don't."

Deja vu….

"What do you mean again?" he echoed. "When?"

"This is the third time. Second time in the last month."

The Professor rolled up next to me. "What did you see?"

"What do you think, Charles?" I exclaimed. "The same thing I've been seeing for 4 years." I placed my hand on Logan's shoulder, pushing myself up to stand. "And you keep telling me the same thing you told me when I was 19. And look where that got us." Everyone sat there in shock. "I need some air."

~:~

I ended up in the garden, sitting on the edge of the fountain.

I closed my eyes and listened to the birds chirping.

_I can't do this anymore…._

_I am not okay…._

Suddenly, a voice broke me from my trance.

"Angie! Are you okay?" Warren came running around the corner. "Why are you out here? Shouldn't Hank be checking you out?"

"I'm fine, Warren. Now will you please leave?"

"I know that I am the last person you want to see right now. But can you please just let me help you?" He held out his hand. "Please?"

~:~

"_**Come on. I promise I got you." I reluctantly took his hand.**_

_**"Okay...but if you drop me, I will never let you forget it."**_

_**He laughed. "Wouldn't doubt it." He picked me up bridal style and took flight.**_

_**I wrapped my arms around his neck as he took flight. My eyes locked tight together.**_

_**"You can't enjoy it if you don't look." One eyes popped open, then slowly the other.**_

_**"Whoa...the School...it's…."**_

_**"Yeah, beautiful." He glanced at me. "Just like you…."**_

~:~

I nodded my head and took his hand.

"Can we-"

"Can we what?" he asked.

"Can we fly around the school?" I replied. "It's peaceful up there."

He walked up and leaned down, hesitating to pick me up."May I?"

I nodded and he picked me up like he used to, quickly taking flight.

It seemed like hours we were up there. And once we landed. I...didn't want to let go.

He put me down and still held on to his neck, foreheads touching.

"Ange-"

"I know, Warren," I interrupted. "I know about her. I just…." I sighed. "I just wanted five minutes with you. Where we weren't fighting or at each other's throats." I let go of him and sat down on the fountain's edge.

"How do you know about her?"

"I've known about her since the day I met you." He furrowed his brows in reply. "I shook your hand and I saw two people: me and her, the loves of your life."

"You knew we weren't always going to be together?" he asked, earning a nod in reply. "Then, why did you date me?"

I shrugged. "I didn't know if we would break up or if…."

"You'd die…."

"Yeah, but I knew you would be happy. And that's all that mattered." I rubbed my hand up and down my arm. "I tried to move on, Warren. But I can't. One failed relationship is proof of that."

"I didn't move on either, Ange. Not until her." He sat down next to me. "I did everything to fight it but…."

"It just happened?" I asked, knowingly. "That's how it works."

"What are you talking about?"

"Angie!" Logan yelled from the house.

"For another day." I walked away and headed towards the mansion. "What Logan?"

"Well, you disappeared on us for a couple hours. I think we have a right to be worried," he **_argued._** "Especially with what happened."

"I'm fine, Logan."

"No, you're not."

I sighed. "Okay, maybe I'm not. And I don't think I ever will be. You guys will have to just deal with that." I brushed past him and headed straight to my room.

Minutes later, Marcos rushed into the room, noticing what I was doing.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. D.C. or something?" I replied. "Pack your bags if you're coming."

He held up his hand. "Why?"

"I need space. Space where everyone isn't hounding me about everything." I zipped up the suitcase.

"Then I should stay here."

I shook my head. "That's not what I meant, Marcos."

"I know that. But you're right. You need a break away from this, from New York, from everything."

"But?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, okay? I want you to stay, but I know you need to go."

"Whoa…."

"What?"

"You…are the best kid anyone could ask for." I pulled him into a hug. "I won't be gone forever. You'll visit me, won't you?"

"Anything for you."

"Why is he going to be visiting?" Logan said standing in the doorway. "You're leaving again?"

I glared at him and grabbed my bag. He held out his arm, stopping me, as I tried to walk past him.

"Don't do this."

"I have to, Logan. And you know why." I shook my head. "I can't listen to the same crap they gave me ten years ago."

His hand went to my face. "Please…."

"I'm sorry, but I have to…."

~:~

_**guess whose back! I am back and have great plans. Stay tuned for more this week!**_


	24. Chapter 24

~:~

**_Hey guys, I'm back with more!_**

**_And thank you Blu3b3rryT3a and Bing-a-Ling27 for favoriting and following!_**

_**~:~**_

"How's the kids?"

"_Pretty good. They miss you a lot," _Laura replied. "_And you?"_

"I moved out of Tony's and the School. I'm on my own now."

"_And Marcos?"_

"He's finishing up school. He visits every once in a while."

"_And what brought this on?"_

I sighed. "I passed out again."

"_What?"_ she exclaimed. "_You need to get checked out."_

"I did. I'm fine," I replied. "It's just stress."

"_Then, find a way to de-stress. Meditation, running, something. You're gonna kill yourself if you don't."_

"Yes, ma'am…." There was a knock at the door. "Sorry, I gotta go."

"_Alright, talk to ya later."_

I hung up and looked through the peep-hole. _What the…._

"Hank?" I asked as I opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, a little bird told me you ran off to D.C." He raised a brow. "Care to explain?"

I motioned for him to come in, quickly checking the hall.

"It's…complicated."

"Can't be that complicated."

"In my life, yes it is," I replied. "I've been really stressed out lately. With New York in general."

"You can't hate the entire state," he joked.

I rolled my eyes. "I can when my job and family life are a pain in the ass."

"What happened?" he asked, blue face paling.

"After I got back…."I sighed. "I had a…vision."

"You have always had visions, my dear," he replied. "What's so different about it now?"

"These aren't normal. I pass out, I ramble, I…." I gulped. "I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"The future. What's coming. I can't keep watching it." My body trembled, shivers running down my back. "I can't…."

His furry blue arms wrapped me in a hug. "Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Because they either will tell me I'm insane or that it's '_just a dream'_."

"Not everyone is Charles, my dear," he said. "To be honest, I don't think he is the best in this situation. Never has."

_You think…. _"What should I do?"

"What did you do when you were stressed?"

"I took a run. Or a flight. Depends on what point in time."

"Then, go on a run," he replied. "Maybe it'll come to you."

~:~

_**THE NEXT MORNING….**_

The daylight slowly broke across the sky, as I jogged down the path around the Reflecting Pool. All was silent except for crickets air was cool against my skin and my feet thudded against the ground. I came upon a man and shouted, "On your left," as I passed him. Soon after, I heard footfalls approaching and heard the same as the man passed me.

This went on for an hour until daylight had finally arrived and I sat down on a bench to catch my breath.

The man came up to me. "What's a girl doing out this early by herself?"

"Out for a destress-run. You?"

"Same thing," he replied. "You new 'round here?"

"Kinda. Moved here about a month or two ago." I held out my hand. "Angie Jarvis."

"Sam Wilson," he said, shaking my hand. "Wait, _the_ Angie Jarvis." I nodded in reply. "What is Angie Jarvis doing out here?"

"You know me?"

He shrugged. "Kinda. It's kind of hard to forget the heiress of the Stark fortune."

"Formerly. But I get what you mean." I looked at his sweatshirt. "You military?"

"Formerly. Air Force." He gave me a look. "How about you? You seem like you've been through something."

"Worked in...security...private sector. It does stuff to you."

"I'll agree with you on that." He gave me a smile. Catching his breath, he asked, "Want to get a cup of coffee or something?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

~:~

Over the following weeks, we kept running into each other and became fast friends.

"Okay, Sam. Let's make a deal," I said, stretching my arms. "Loser buys coffee."

He shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"Sweet."I crouched down. "Alright, on your mark, get set….GO!" and I took off.

"Cheater!" Sam yelled from behind me catching up.

I heard his feet approaching and I sped up. "Whatever, Wilson. Meet you at the tree!"

Halfway through the race he caught up and passed me. I pushed myself harder until I caught up, keeping up with him until I passed.

As I approached the tree, awaiting my victory, I saw Sam out of the corner of my eye. He passed me and yelled, "On your left!"

I reached the tree and laid down under it.

He chuckled as he stood over me, handing me some water. "You okay?"

"Perfectly...fine," I panted and took a sip. "Alright, a deal's a deal." I pulled my body up to lean against the tree. "Where to, Sammy?"

He looked at his phone. "Um, I think I'll have to rain-check that coffee date. I gotta get to work"

"No problem." I blinked, "Wait, _a date_?"

His cheeks reddened. "Um, I mean...Uh..."

I laughed. "Dude, I was joking."

"Joking, right." He stuck his phone back in his pocket.

"Sounds great. I got some stuff I need to catch up on anyways." I reached a hand out for him to pull me up. "Three o'clock at McGee's?"

He grasped my hand, pulling me up. "You got it."

I started to walk away but stopped to look over my shoulder. "Oh, and Sam? Even if it was a date, I wouldn't mind." I turned away grinning and I jogged off.

~:~

"Okay, my dear. Close your eyes..."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't, Hank...I can't watch them die again…."

"Don't focus on death. Look for life." He smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Closing my eyes again, I searched and found it. _Tony...Marcos...Steve...Clint...Sam?_

My eyes fluttered open. _Why Sam? _

I lifted my head to look at the blue-furred mutant. "Why was he…"

"That's for you to figure out." He sat up and pushed his chair back. "You always do."

I cocked my head. "Not really…."

He laughed. "Don't you have a date?"

My gaze jerked towards the clock. _2:58, CRAP!_ I frantically grabbed my things. "I'm sorry, Hank. Thanks for coming over."

"My pleasure, Angie." He followed me. "I can let myself out."

"You sure? Cause I can…"

"Angie, go."

I waved farewell and rushed off towards my car.

~:~

My car squealed into the parking lot. I hopped out and ran in. My eyes darted across the room until I found him.

"Sam! I am so sorry," I apologized as I sat down. "I got caught up and I…"

"Chill, no worries." He smiled. "What were you doing anyways?"

"Nothing much," I said as I pulled things out of my bag. "Just met up with my old professor. I help him out with some Senate stuff." I glance at him. "What 'bout you? How was the VA's?"

He shrugged. "Same old, same old."

"Come on," I whined. "You gotta give me something."

"Unless you want to hear about the cute secretary again," He said, quirking a brow, "then no."

I huffed in defeat. "Fine. Want the usual? Coffee, black with a blueberry muffin."

"You got it."

When I came back, Sam was on the phone.

"Look, Mom. It's just a couple of friends getting coffee. Nothing else, okay?" He sighed. "I'll call you back later. Bye."

He clicked his phone shut and rested his elbows on the table and rubbed his forehead.

"You okay?" I asked, handing him his coffee.

He took a sip. "Just my mom. Trying to set me up again."

"Gotcha. I got people who do that."

"Sideburns?" He smirked.

"Yep. That one." I took a bite of my muffin. "Mainly, he tries to get me back together with my ex."

"What happened with him?"

"I met him through school and one of Tony's projects. We dated for a few years, then something happened and everything changed."

"How?"

I leaned back against my chair. "He got involved in something and I got hurt. At the time, we tried to fix things but the damage had been done." I sighed. "I guess I'm still healing from that."

~:~

_**Thanks for reading, guys and gals. Stay tuned for more!**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**~:~**_

_**Weeks later….**_

It was a...typical morning. Sam and I went on a run together. After we made our first lap, I slowed down to take a break.

As I took a sip from my water, a wave of uneasiness came over me.

"You tired already?" Sam joked. "You're getting out of shape."

I smiled and shook my head. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

He waived and took off.

The uneasy feeling came over me again as I heard a voice. One I never wanted to hear again.

"Long time no see, Jarvis."

My eyes widened. _Grant…._

I turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"Work. How are you?"

My eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Can't a guy visit an old friend?" he asked, attempting to place a hand on my shoulder.

"You know why you can't." I swatted his hand away. "Now, I'm not going to ask you again: _What do you want_?"

"I'm just making sure you haven't done anything stupid."

"And why would I do that?"

He smirked. "I'm pretty sure you'd want Marcos to go back to Westchester in one piece, now would you?"

"I told you to stay away from him," I growled. "That was the deal."

"Oh, I know. And I've kept that part. Now, how about you?"

"I kept my mouth shut. I haven't led them straight to you." I poked my finger into his chest, punctuating the next four words. "I. HAVE. KEPT. THE. DEAL."

He grabbed my hand, placing a kiss to the back. I pulled it from his grasp and slapped him.

"What did you really want, Grant?"

"I haven't realized how much I missed you calling me that…."

I let out a harsh breath. "Answer the question!"

He paused and looked me straight in the eye. "How much of it was real? Did you really love me?"

"99 percent of it was real. I loved you." I ran a hand through my ponytail. "But every time that thought came across my mind, a voice screamed not to."

"So, you still love me?"

I scoffed. "I LOVED you. Not love. I stopped loving you that day. The day you threatened not only me, but my son, my family, and everyone I love." I backed up. "I gave you a chance. You don't deserve anything from me. Not anymore." I started to walk away, but he called out, stopping me.

"Don't do anything stupid."

I turned back around, and stared him down. "Keep your end, and I'll keep mine."

I bolted away, ignoring someone's pleas for me to stop. Finally, the voice caught up.

"Angie, what the heck was that about?" It asked.

I looked up quickly realizing it was Sam.

"It was nothing. Just my ex. He was...catching up."

He raised a brow. "That was some catching up, then."

"Sam, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Angie…"

"Sam," I quipped.

"What did he say? What are you supposed to keep?"

_Dear God, help me…._

"He threatened my family. That's that." I turned away. "Now, please drop it." I sped away.

He followed me, keeping stride with me. "Angie, you need to-"

"Sam, drop it!" I sped away, leaving him behind me.

~:~

Weeks went by, and I….I didn't see Sam since that day. I didn't go running in the morning, trying to avoid him. I ignored his calls, avoiding the pain that I feared I had caused. And I….I tried to purge him from my thoughts.

But I knew...I knew I couldn't.

"Mom?" Marcos asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "You okay?"

I forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm perfectly-"

"Don't lie. I know you're not okay."

"It's-"

"Complicated?" He raised a brow. "Didn't think I would catch on did you?"

"Marcos, I'm just tired. Stress from the new job." I placed my hand on his cheek. "I'm fine," I assured him, pinching his cheek. "So...Hank will be by in the morning to bring you by his office." I got up from the couch. "You'll finally get that last piece for your government class."

"Yeah," he cheered, sarcastically. "More school…."

"Hey, this isn't a vacation, bud."

"You coming?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm meeting up with a friend for lunch. Plus, it's the weekend. I only come in if Hank has any emergency."

He frowned. "Alright…." He raised a brow. "Who's this _friend_?"

"Steve. The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan."

"Okay, forget I said anything," he quickly answered, turning back to his show.

I chuckled, muttering, "That's what I thought."

~:~

"So... How've ya been?"

_Wonderful, just peachy…. _"Okay...I guess. You?"

Steve shrugged. "Same. It's been weird not having you around." He smirked. "Would have loved your help with my laptop the other day."

"What happened?" I asked, eyes widening.

"Let's just say it took a one-way trip out my bedroom window."

I laughed. "Next time call. Before the machines turn against you for the brutality against their kind."

"Noted." His demeanor changed. "So, how's your project going? You haven't said much since…."

"I asked about Bucky?" I sighed. "To be honest... I stopped. I couldn't look into it anymore. I just wish that I hadn't seen and heard about all the pain and suffering. She shouldn't have gone through all of that."

"Have you asked Fury?" he asked. "Maybe he knows something."

"I've tried to avoid that man like the Plague. And I've done a pretty good job for the past six months," I replied. I recalled our last meeting. "And I'd like to keep it that way."

~:~

"_What did you find, Jarvis?"_

_I shook my head. "Nothing that SHIELD needs to be concerned about."_

"_Tell me and I will decide if it concerns us or not."_

"_Agent Grant Ward is a part of something, but it doesn't raise any alarms." I stood up and turned to leave. _

_Fury held his arm out stopping me. "What happened?"_

"_Drop it, Fury. Before I do something we'll both regret."_

_~:~_

"Angie?" Steve asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah," I replied, blinking away the memory. "Just remembered something. How'd you-"

My phone rang. _**Unknown number. **_

_Fury, I bet…._

"You need to take that?"

I shrugged. "I guess." I answered it. "Hello?"

"_Jarvis, it's been a long time."_

~:~


	26. Chapter 26

_**~:~**_

"_What's the case this time?"_

_He shook his head. "No case. Just want to know why you were seen with Grant Ward a month ago."_

"_You got people following me, Nick?" I scoffed. "Should have known."_

"_It was for your safety."_

"_My safety? You got people following Cap too?"_

_He gave me a look._

"_You do. Huh. Well, nothing happened. Same old thing, he's still involved with the same thing that I won't tell you about."_

_He pulled out a file. "How about a trade?"_

"_You're unbelievable." I threw the door open, slamming it shut behind me. "You'd think I'd risk everything for that? Well, you're wrong." _

_As I started to walk away, he called out._

"_You'd walk away from the answer?"_

_I looked over my shoulder. "I would if it kept everyone safe."_

~:~

_**WEEKS LATER...**_

After another Sam-less morning run, I headed for the Smithsonian, where they had opened an exhibit on Captain America.

I walked through the wings until I stopped at one I didn't realize I was looking for.

_**"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in the service of his country." **_

I watched the footage and took in his appearance. His hair, his eyes, his smile. Something struck a chord in me.

_What was it, Mom, why him..._

I shook the thoughts from my head.

A kid walked up beside me. He looked at the video then at me. "You kinda look like him."

I smiled. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, you just do."

"Well, kiddo, I will take that as a compliment." I put out my fist to fistbump him, and he bumped it and ran off.

"He's right, you know," Steve said, startling me. "Mainly your smile."

"You're back!"

He walked up and threw an arm around my shoulders. "What are you doing here? You miss me or something?"

"No." I looked over the exhibit again. "Something brought me here. I don't know why."

"That's understandable." He looked at the exhibit as well, tears brimming his eyes. "I wish you got to know him. I know he would have loved you."

"And I bet I would have loved him."

~:~

As we ate lunch, Steve fidgeted in his seat.

I tried to reach into his mind but it was so clouded I couldn't read anything.

He noticed me staring. "What?"

"Sorry, you seem off. What happened?"

"Nothing. Fury just ticked me off," he grumbled.

"You and me both," I muttered, nodding and choosing not to push further. "So, tell me more about the infamous lover-boy of Brooklyn."

Steve rolled his eyes at my description of his best friend. "Well, one time we went to Coney Island and- "

I grimaced. "Was it a double date?"

"No, it was just us guys." A grin crept on his face. "We got on the coaster and I remember we got stuck on it. Oh man, Bucky panicked. The one guy you'd think would never panic. And I had to calm him down."

I laughed. "What happened when y'all got down?"

"Well, I laughed at him. Then he punched me in the arm and threatened me to not say anything. And I quote, _'Because it would damage his reputation.' _"

"Is that another reason why I remind you of him?"

"No, you definitely get that from Tony."

The waitress came to check on our drinks. "How long y'all been together?"

"How long has it been, Stevie? "

He shrugged. "I was 6 when you were born, so...29,30."

The waitress blushed in embarrassment. "I am so sorry, I thought.."

"It's okay. We're adopted so we get that a lot. "

"I really didn't mean to offend you."

"Don't worry about it." I reassured her. She nodded and walked off. I looked back at Steve, "Nice acting."

"I was just playing along." He went back to reading his newspaper. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much," I shrugged. "I take runs in the park, get coffee at McGee's cafe, research at the library and so on and so on."

"Where you run?"

"Usually around the Reflecting Pool. Somedays Constitution."

"I ran around the Pool the other day. Met someone."

"Ooooo!," I squealed. I leaned against the table, resting my chin in my hands. "So, what's her name?"

He rolled his eyes at my outburst. "First of all, it's a he, and his name is Sam."

_Sam, wait a second…._

"And, really? You're just as bad as Natasha."

"Well, you do need to get out more." I stated, matter-of-factly. "We don't want you to die alone."

"When will that happen?" he asked furrowing his brows.

"You never know." I shrugged. "You might get shot, hit by a car, blow up in a plane, slip on a banana peel…"

"Banana peel?"

I dramatically leaned back and covered my eyes. "_Help I've fallen and can't get up!_"

"Yeah, laugh it up." He shook his head. "So, back to the story." I crossed my arms and slumped into my chair.

"His name is Sam…"

_Got that._

"-and he works down at the VA."

_Oh, yeah, definitely Sammy. _

"After this, you wanna come with me and meet him?"

I had to avoid this. _What can I find to do?_

"I can't; I have paperwork to do."

"You finished all of it yesterday. I saw it on the counter this morning."

"Fine…I guess I could swing by."

_I'm going to regret this…._

_~:~_

_**VA OFFICE**_

I followed Steve through the familiar hall until we stopped at Sam's class. I motioned for Steve to go in.

"I'll just wait out here." I sat on the bench until the vets came out.

Sam walked towards Steve. "Look who it is. The running man."

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." Steve said leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret."

"You lose someone?

"My wingman, Riley."

I remembered the story. They were flying a night mission, nothing they hadn't done before. An RPG knocked Riley out of the sky.

"Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch." He glanced over to me and I gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry."

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve asked.

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah." Sam smiled. "You thinking about getting out?"

"No... I don't know." He sighed. "To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."

I popped my head up and said, "Ultimate fighting," just as Sam did. Steve laughed.

"It's just a great idea off the top of my head." He said. "But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't know."

"Thanks a lot, Stevie," I scoffed, as I walked up to the pair. "I thought you cared." I crossed my arms and raised a brow.

"Hey, Ange," Sam said, slightly chuckling.

I gave him a small smile. "Hey, Sam."

Steve gave us a confused look. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah, we do," Sam replied. "It's…."

"Complicated," I added. "We run with each other sometimes."

"Maybe we can all meet up sometime."

"Yeah…." My phone began to buzz. "Maybe we can…."

_**Blocked number.**_

_Hmmm, that's weird_….

"If you will excuse me, I need to take this." I walked away and pressed the button. "Hello?"

_"Jarvis, do not trust ANYONE. Do you hear me?"_ Fury shouted through the line.

My brows wrinkled in confusion. "Nick, what's going on?"

_"Can't talk. There's not much time." _**Click.**

_What the…._

Steve walked up beside me, giving me a questioning look. I shrugged.

He nodded. "You coming?"

"Yeah," I placed my phone back in my bag. "But I'm gonna catch up with Sam." I hugged him and he went on his way.

I took a deep breath and walked back inside. As I walked up to Sam, I could feel the guilt rising up in me.

"Sam?"

He looked up from the table. "Hey…."

"Hey…."

He walked over to me, hesitating to come close.

I reached out and placed my hand on his arm. "Sam, I-"

"Shh, just come here," he replied, pulling me into a hug.

I shook my head, pulling away from his grasp. "I should have given you a better explanation. It's just…."

"Complicated? I know."

_Story of my life…._

"Yeah…."

"He's not the one who..."

"No. He's not that one," I replied with a shake of my head. "He was-"

My phone buzzed again. _**Blocked number.**_

"I'm sorry, I gotta go. Wanna meet up?"

"Tomorrow at McGee's? 12 o'clock?" he asked, slowly releasing my hand.

I smiled. "You got it." I held the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

_"SHIELD compromised..Get home…"_ **Click.**

"Hello?"

~:~

I walked through the door and saw Steve armed with his shield. A dark figure was on the couch. I squint my eyes and realise it's Fury. "What are you doing here?"

"Wife kicked me out. Didn't know where else to go."

I gave Steve a questioning look. "Didn't know you were married. Doesn't surprise me though."

He chuckled. "Well, you'd be the first." He put a finger to his lips and typed into his phone and turned the screen to us.

_**'Ears everywhere.'**_

"I'm sorry to do this." he typed into his phone again,

_**'SHIELD compromised.'**_

"It's okay, stay as long as you need." I said. My breath quickened.

"Does anyone else know about her?" Steve asked

"Just…" He typed, _**'Just me and you two.' **_

"...my friends."

"Is that what we are?"

"That's up to you." Suddenly, three shots rang out through the wall and Fury collapsed.

Steve looked towards the window, searching for the shooter. He helped me drag Fury to the next room. Before he left, Nick handed him a flash drive.

"Don't...trust anyone," He said as he passed out.

"Nick, don't you dare! Keep your eyes open."

The door burst open and a voice rang through the apartment.

"Captain Rogers?" I turned to see a gun drawn.

"Sharon? What the heck are you doing here?"

Steve gave me a confused look. "Sharon? Her name is Kate."

"Captain, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service," she replied. "I'm assigned to protect you."

"On whose order?" He demanded.

She gasped, noticing Fury.

"His." She kneeled by Fury, pulling out a radio. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs."

_**"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?"**_

"Tell him I'm in pursuit." Steve smashed through the window and ran.

I turned back to the injured man watching his chest rise and fall with rapid breaths.

_Come on, Nick…._

_~:~_

_**HOSPITAL**_

Doctors frantically operated on him. Natasha and Maria arrived and they immediately started questioning Steve on the shooter. I watched as he began to flatline and as the doctors tried to revive him.

The doctor stepped back. "What's the time?"

"1:03."

Tears streamed down my face as I heard the fateful words.

A hand touched my shoulder. "Get somewhere safe," Steve whispered.

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here."

"How do you know you can trust me?"

He sighed. "I just know."

I nod and started dialing my phone.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, I'm sorry and I know it's late…" I sighed. "But I really need your help…."

~:~


	27. Chapter 27

_**~:~**_

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

I hear the thudding of footfall and the door unlocking. "This better be-" Sam looked at me in shock. "What happened?" He moved out of the doorway, letting me walk in.

"I don't want to talk about it." I wiped my nose. "Can we please talk about it in the morning?"

He gave me a small nod. "Let's get you cleaned up." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to the bathroom.

For the first time since the fateful event, I saw my makeup-stained face, mascara smeared from the tears.

"Here," he said, handing me a wet rag. I nodded my thanks as he left.

As I wiped my face, the memories of the day flooded my eyes.

_The gunshots, sirens, and the monitors._

Shaking my head, I attempted to collect the last bit of sanity that I had. He returned with a shirt and some shorts.

"These may be a little big but-"

"It'll be fine." I smiled. "Thanks."

"Your welcome." He crossed his arms and tilted his head to look at me. "You gonna be okay?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine." I glanced at him giving him a small smile.

He didn't necessarily believe me, but he nodded. "Guest room or couch?"

"Couch."

"You sure?" I nodded reassuringly. "Okay ...I'll go get a blanket." He pointed his thumb towards the hall and walked away.

I pulled off my jacket, setting it on the counter. I ran a hand through my brown locks and let out a shaky breath.

My hands rested on the counter, keeping my body from collapsing to the ground.

"What the-"

I popped my head up and saw Sam staring at my back. _The scars on my back._ He reached his hand to touch them but pulled back.

"It's okay," I said over my shoulder. "You can touch. It won't hurt me."

His fingers gently brushed over the wounds. "How?" His eyes looked at mine through the mirror.

"I got hurt on the job…." I replied. "A mission went sideways and….no one could stop it once it happened." I let out a shaky breath. "A part of my team got captured and they…forced them to hurt the rest of us. My fiancé….he…." I choked down a sob. "He did that."

Anger burned in his eyes. "He did what?"

"And to think, the scars aren't even the worst of it." I saw the tears lining our eyes. I turned my gaze away from him. "I know...They're ugly."

"No." He raised my chin to look at him. "Don't you ever think that."

My eyes flicked between his eyes and his lips. "I think I…."

_No, no, no, Angie! Don't do this again._

I blinked away the thought. "It's late. I already woke you early enough."

"Yeah, early." He rubbed his neck. "See ya when it's light out."

"Yeah…."

~:~

_**SAM POV**_

I walked down the hall to my room. My mind was reeling from what I heard.

_Her boyfriend did that to her? Oh, when I get my hands on him..._

_And, ugly? Why did she think those scars were ugly? They make her even more beautiful._

_Wait, BEAUTIFUL? Dammit, Wilson. You're just friends...right? _

_But the look she gave me. She looked like she wanted more than 'just friends.' _

_No! Get your head out of the clouds._

I shook the thoughts from my head and turned off the lights.

_There's no way…_

~:~

_**ANGIE P.O.V.**_

**BANG, BANG, BANG! **

_The shots ran through the spy as he collapsed to the ground. _

_"No!" I screamed as I rushed to his side . _

_I looked at my hands and saw them covered with blood…_

_Holding the gun. _

_I shot him! Me! This is all my fault. _

_"No, no, no…."_

As I dreamt of the horror, I felt someone try to shake me awake.

'Angie, wake up. It's just a dream. Come on..."

"Nick!" I screamed, bolting up from my sleep.

"It's okay. It was just a dream," Sam whispered, pulling me into his arms.

I held tight to him."He's dead...he's dead...he's dead..."

"Who's dead?'

"I killed him, it's all my fault."

"Shhh.. It was just a dream. You're okay. "

After my sobs subsided, he got up to walk away. I sat up and grabbed his arm. "Please... Don't leave me..."

He sat down on the couch and I placed my pillow in his lap. I laid down and clung to his chest. My breaths began to even out as he rubbed his hand up and down my arm.

Soon, sleep consumed my body and I drifted off until dawn.

_**~:~**_


	28. Chapter 28

_**~:~**_

_**NEXT MORNING**_

My eyelids twitched and my nose filled with the smell of leather and cologne. I reached out but found nothing. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was alone. I bolted up and looked around.

"Morning."

I turned my gaze to the kitchen and saw Sam pouring a cup of coffee.

"Milk and two sugar?"

I nodded, combing my fingers through my hair. "Please."

I got up and walked towards the counter. He handed me the mug and I sat down at the bar stool.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How much of last night do you remember?"

I questioningly raised my brow. "Why?"

He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter behind him. "Well, you could start with that nightmare, dream, whatever it was."

Suddenly, all the memories came back from the night.

"My friend, he… in the dream, I…." I gulped. "I was the one who killed him." Tears began to fill my eyes. "There was blood all over my hands, and when I looked down, there was the gun. I had shot him. It was my fault…." I shuddered, sobs threatening to overtake my body. "It was my fault….."

Sam walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around me. "What's going on, Ange?"

"Last night, that friend was shot. Right in front of me." My face hardened. "I watched him die. I felt him die."

_Felt someone die, again. _

"I can't shake that, Sam."

"I've felt that too. You feel like there's…"

"A hole in your chest?" He nodded in reply. "I've felt it before, Sam. And I hate it."

"Why? It shows you care, that you feel. It makes you human."

I shook my head. "If you understood why, then you would feel the same."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means" My phone buzzed.

_Stay low until clear. I'll contact you when it's safe. -Steve._

"What's that?"

"Steve. He's checking on me."

"Why are you here and not with him?"

"It's-" I sighed. "It's complicated."

"It can't be that complicated," He scoffed. "What happened? What's going on?"

"There's a lot I can't tell you right now. Because I don't know. And when I do, you will be the first to know." I pulled myself from his grasp.

"Ange-" I placed my fingers on his mouth.

"Please, Sam. Just trust me."

He slowly nodded in reply. "Alright." He walked back into the kitchen, pulling out a pan.

"Breakfast?"

I shrugged. "As long as it's edible."

He gaped mockingly. "You of little faith."

"Dude, the only time we eat together is at restaurants." I gave him a questioning look. "Think about it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He pulls out a cast iron pan and flips it in the air. "Prepare to be amazed."

~:~

"Okay," I laughed. "I am amazed."

He bowed. "Thank you, thank you, Hold your applause. Thank you very much."

"Modest much?"

He laughed but his smirk quickly fell. "What's the plan?"

"Dunno?" I shrugged. "Hide out here till everything blows over? I don't know what to do."

"Don't you have a place to hide out?"

I shook my head. "And risk their safety? Hell,no."

"What about mine?"

I hadn't thought of that. I wouldn't risk the school,or Laura and the kids. But I risked his.

_What was I doing?_

"You're a big boy. I know you can take care of yourself."

"What about you? Can _you_ take care of yourself?"

I shrugged. "I was raised by Tony Stark. If I lived through that, I think I can handle anything."

~:~

The rest of the day passed quickly. Sam left to grab more groceries, and I stayed in case SHIELD came looking for me. While he was out, my phone rang.

**Francis.** I smirked at the caller ID. _Best joke ever._ "Hello?"

_"Ange, where are you?"_

"Sorry, Clint. Can't tell you. Captain's orders."

_"He there with you?"_

"Classified."

_"Ange, I swear-" _he warned.

"You wouldn't hurt me. You love me too much."

_"Angie! They're going to kill you if you don't get away."_

"I can't leave him, Clint. I won't."

_"If you change your mind, you know where to go. Stay safe."_

"You too."

_"Bye." _**Click.**

I heard the door.

"It's just me," Sam yelled.

As I started walking towards the living room, a wave of dizziness overtook me.

_**"-They call him the Winter Soldier-"**_

_**"-Bucky?-"**_

_**"-Who the hell is Bucky?-"**_

_**"-I knew him-"**_

_**"-You're my mission-"**_

_**"-Then finish it, 'cause I'm with you-"**_

I broke out of the trance.

_Till the end of the line…. _

I raced towards the guest room and pulled the familiar journal out of my bag. I turned to the last entry I had read.

_**"Through these instances, I met your father. He was kind but cruel at the same time; he was... their greatest weapon."**_

_Their greatest weapon? _With a shake of my head, I flipped through the pages, searching for some sort of answer; but came up empty.

I heard a knock on the door frame.

"What's up?"

"Um, nothing. I just remembered something."

"Okay ...Well, if you're hungry, I brought McGee's."

I grinned. "Monte Cristo?"

He nodded. "With extra sugar and jam."

"This is why you're my best friend."

"I try my hardest." He smiled.

I shut the journal and stuffed it back in my bag. "Come on, old man. Let's dig in."

~:~

Someone knocked on the front door. I pulled out my gun and headed for the door.

"What are you doing?" Sam harshly whispered.

"Never can be too careful."

He slowly opened the door and a familiar voice broke through the silence.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," another voice added.

"Not everyone." Sam moves out of the way, letting them in.

Slowly, I move out of my hiding spot. Steve looks at me in shock.

"How did you..."

I held a hand up to stop him, holstering my gun. "Long story. But first, y'all get cleaned up."

They nodded and Sam led them towards the guestroom.

When he returned, I could feel uneasiness flow from him.

"Hey, Ange. I think we need to talk."

"Let's talk while we cook." I said pulling the eggs out of the fridge.

He pulled out a pan and set it on the stove. "It's about the other night."

"If it's about the dream, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. Okay, Sam?"

"It's not about that it's-" He stared at my back. _The scars._

"I told you what happened." I replied, cracking them into the pan.

He grabbed my arm and turned me towards him. "How are you okay?"

"I….I'm not okay, Sam." I looked up at him, tears glistening. "I have never been okay. And I don't think I will ever be." I turned away, stirring the pan.

"What if someone could help?" He cupped my cheek, making me look at him. We leaned in towards each other, the tips of our noses barely touching.

"Sam…I" My eyes flashed.

_**I saw a little girl running in the yard with Marcos.**_

_**I looked down and noticed I was heavily pregnant. **_

_**Sam came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my midsection.**_

"_**Sam, your child is kickboxing with my liver."**_

"_**Don't you mean your bladder?"**_

"_**No, Riley kicked that thing out five years ago." **_

_**He laughed, placing a kiss on my temple. "I love you too…."**_

A smell came over me. _Is something burning?_

"Crap!" I turned away and tried to salvage the eggs, watching him walk off. I felt the frustration radiating off of him.

_Why do you do this to yourself, Angie? You're just setting yourself up to get hurt again._

The eggs were destroyed, so I threw them out, starting a new batch.

_But he's never hurt you. _

_So did the others, and when you fell, you fell hard. _

_And that made the hurt that much worse._

Sam returned to my side, placing a kiss on the same spot he had in my vision. I closed my eyes, a tear running down my cheek.

"Sam…."

He shushed me. "I don't know what is going to happen today, tomorrow, a week from now." He cupped my cheeks again. "Can we just have this? Just for once."

"What are we?" I whispered, leaning into his touch.

"Whatever you-"

"What is that smell?"

We broke apart, returning to our tasks. The two Avengers walked into the living room.

Natasha smirked. "You trying to cook, Angie? Cause if you are, you failed terribly."

I leaned back to glare at her, sticking my tongue out at the spy.

"For someone who's running from certain death, you seem peachy," I replied. "Shouldn't you be planning your vengeance or something?"

"I don't think revenge is going to help us this time," Steve said. "It's too late for that."

"What the heck is-"

**Ring. Ring. Unknown number.**

"_Put in on speaker," _Natasha mouthed.

I nodded and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"_Angie! Thank God!"_

"Maria? What do you want?"

"_How fast can you get to these coordinates?"_

I looked down. "I don't know. Why should I trust you?"

"_Because Fury would come back from the dead to kill me himself if I don't keep you safe."_

"I'm perfectly safe where I am. Thank you for the concern."

"_Angie, I'm serious!"_

_You and Clint both….._ "I'm fine, Hill. Keep me up to date with ...whatever this mess is." I pressed the button, ending the call.

We all exchanged glances.

"I think you need to go with her," Steve said, breaking the silence.

I shook my head. "You heard Fury: _don't trust anyone._"

"Angie, he's right," Natasha replied. "We can trust her."

"How can I trust her if I don't know what's going on?"

Steve took a deep breath and explained what had happened: Pierce, the elevator, the old SHIELD base, Zola.

I sat there in shock. "Whoa…that's a lot to take in. So, who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce." Steve realized.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Tasha added.

"He can't be working alone." I shook my head. "One man couldn't do this much damage by himself."

"He isn't; Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

Natasha's eyes widened. "So was Jasper Sitwell."

I looked to Sam, jerking my head towards the two and mouthed 'the file' to him.

He nodded and whispered,"Already on it."

"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

"The answer is:" he walked over and threw a file on the table in front of them. "You don't."

I walked over to him and stood next to him.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Call it a resume."

Tasha took the picture that was on top. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" She turned to Steve, "You didn't say he was para-rescue."

"This Riley?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

Natasha continued to look at the photo. "I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?

He shook his head. "No. These." He hands the file to Steve.

"I thought you said you were a pilot," he said reading the file.

Sam chuckled. "I never said pilot."

Steve shook his head. "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help."

"No better reason to get back in," I agreed. "Trust me, Steve. You need him."

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."

Steve looked to Natasha, who shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem."

~:~


	29. Chapter 29

_**~:~**_

Me and Sam sat at the cafe, scouting for Sitwell.

"Well, this is nice. Just a couple of bros drinking some tea."

A twinge of sadness came over Sam. "Is that what you want us to be?"

"Yes...no...I don't know..." I sighed in frustration. "Sam, I-"

He held up a finger. "I got eyes on him." He pulls out his phone and dials. I subtly glance at Sitwell.

"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious...The good looking guy in the sunglasses with a good-lookin' babe," Sam winked at me, "your ten o'clock."

I turned away blushing and saw Sitwell look around but didn't see us. "Your other ten o'clock." Sitwell turned the other way and saw us sitting a few feet away from him.

"There you go. You're gonna go around the corner to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride." He smiled.

"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up."

Sitwell looked down at his tie and saw a small red light from the gun being pointed at him.

~:~

I sat in the car as I waited for "the signal." I reached out and tried to listen to the interrogation on the roof.

All of a sudden Sitwell' s body was propelled off the roof. There was a glimmer of metal across the sky as he was caught and brought back to the roof.

_Whoa, Sam. Those are…_

I shook the thoughts out of my head and reached out again to listen to the interrogation. All I got was bits and pieces but one sentence rang clear.

_**"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."**_

They put him in the car and we started driving towards the Triskelion.

"HYDRA doesn't like leaks. "

Sam glared at him, "So why don't you try sticking a cork in it."

"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here, " Tasha said.

Steve nodded. "I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."

Sitwell replied, "What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea."

Suddenly something lands on the car roof, pulls Sitwell out through the window and throws him into oncoming traffic, killing him.

It started shooting at us until Steve pulled the break, making our attacker drop down onto the street, as another car smashed into the car and pushed us along. He jumped back onto the car, smashed through the windscreen and pulled out the steering wheel.

Sam cursed and Natasha started shooting at him but the Winter Soldier jumped onto the vehicle behind us.

"Who the hell is that?" I yelled.

As the car pulled off the road Steve held on to the car door. "Hang on!" he broke open the door, holding onto us, as we slid on the car door through the streets.

Hydra agents joined the Soldier and started shooting at us. We start fending them off and Tasha splits off from us and he tails her. Steve notices the Soldier tailing her.

"Go, we got this!" Sam yells and I nod in agreement. After we ran off the agents, we caught up and saw Steve fighting the Soldier. His mask flew off, revealing the face of a dead man.

_Bucky…._

_~:~_

"Get on your knees!" Rumlow yelled.

One of the agents forced me to the ground. They started dragging the others to a van.

Sam and I locked eyes. He started to fight against the agent escorting him.

I shook my head and mouthed, '_Don't' _. He furrowed his brows. I gave him a small smile and replied, '_Everything is going to be okay.' _

Rumlow pulled me to my feet, and brought me to another vehicle. Our eyes locked before the door shut I mouthed the words I never thought I'd say.

'_I love you.'_

Rumlow punched my face, breaking me from my trance.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…."I warned.

"Aw, is the little rich brat making threats?"

"No…." I looked up and noticed the Soldier's reaction. He tensed, fists clenched at his sides. "But I don't think you'd want to punch a superior officer."

~:~

_**Yep, you heard me followers of the original. What'd you think of that plot twist?**_

_**Leave your thoughts in the reviews below. See ya later with the next chapter!**_


	30. Chapter 30

_**~:~**_

Rumlow and his team led me into a bank.

"Ah, Valkyrie," Pierce greeted. "Wonderful to see you again. Although, I wish it was under different circumstances."

"I wish I could say the same," I replied. "Now, why am I here? I have other pressing matters."

He nodded, and motioned for me to follow him. We walked into a bank vault.

"Sir, he's…unstable."

Pierce ignored the scientist and kept walking.

I looked past him and saw the Soldier sitting in the middle of the room.

"Mission report." He did not respond."Mission report now."

When he again did not reply, Pierce walked closer and struck him across the face, breaking the Soldier from his trance.

I winced at the noise, but when Rumlow noticed my reaction, I quickly wiped any discomfort off my face.

The Soldier blinked. "That man on the bridge. Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment."

"I knew him…."

Pierce pulled a chair over to him and sat down. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"But I knew him…." His voice shook.

"I bet you did…."Pierce replied. "Valkyrie!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Do your stuff. Wipe any sign of his past."

I scoffed. "It doesn't work that way, sir."

"Are you saying you won't do it?"

"No! I…." I sighed. "I can't do it. I can control someone's actions, maybe even their mind for a short while. But alter someone's memories? That's a whole other ballgame."

"Alrighty then…." He turned to the scientists. "Prep him."

"But sir, he's been out of cryo-freeze too long."

"Then wipe him and start over!"

The scientists strapped Bucky in his chair. As I watched them place the teeth shield in his mouth, our eyes locked.

_I'm sorry, Bucky…._

He shook his head and leaned back. I closed my eyes, and my ears were filled with him screaming in pain.

"You know…. it didn't have to be this way," Pierce said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "You could have done it yourself. I know you have the power."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Who do you think made you what you are? Not some radioactive gene swimming through your body."

_That's what you think…_ I inwardly rolled my eyes. _Dumb-ass..._

He turned to the agent beside me. "Rumlow. Take her with you. Maybe she can show you some of those moves y'all have been hearing about."

"My pleasure, sir." He turned to me. "After you ma'am."

As I started to walk to the door, Pierce called out. "Don't do anything stupid, Valkyrie."

"I can only say the same to you."

_~:~_

"Tell me why I got stuck with you."

Rumlow laughed. "Beats me. What's the plan?"

"How about 'get help'?" I held a finger up. "Actually a version of it, but you get the point."

"Alright then…." We walked up to the control room. "Here goes nothing…."

He pulled me in front of him, using me as a human shield, and held his gun to my head.

As soon as we entered, I looked over and saw Sharon standing across the room.

Her body tensed, and her hand went straight to her gun. I shook my head and mouthed '_wait'_.

"Preempt the launch sequence. Send those ships up now." he said to a techie, who hesitated visibly. "Is there a problem?"

"N-No…."

I snorted., muttering, "I can think of about 50 right now." His grip tightened. "Ow, ow, ow. Just joking…."

"Is there a problem?" Rumlow repeated.

"I'm sorry, sir." The tech drew a nervous breath. "I'm not gonna launch those ships. Captain's orders." I grinned at his reply.

Rumlow pointed the gun at him. "Move away from your station."

"Like he said," Sharon walked up, gun drawn, along with every SHIELD agent in the room. "Captain's orders."

"You picked the wrong side, Agent."

"Depends on what side you're on." Rumlow lowered his gun. Sharon's and my eyes locked, and I nodded, taking her que.

I drew my head forward, throwing it back to hit Rumlow in the face. As soon as he let go, I ran, dodging the knife in his hand. Gunfire erupted and I grabbed the nearest gun. I looked back and saw her wave me off.

"Go! We got this!"

I ran for the nearest stairwell. After a few floors, I heard footsteps trailing behind me. I hid in a blind-spot. As soon as the person walked by, I jumped on his back and wrapped my legs around his neck.

He threw himself against the door. It broke open and we went to the ground. I flipped him over and he threw out his leg, knocking me to the ground. We wrestled until he got me on my back.

He pulled back his fist, quickly stopping himself. "Angie?"

"Sam," I replied with a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry...I had to-"

"Save it. And I know."

"I-"

"_Valkyrie, do you read me?"_

I held my hand up, finger going to my comm. "Loud and clear, soldier."

"_What the heck was that back there?" _

"They don't know my allegiance. Just go with it."

"_Council's been breached. I'm headed up there now. Where are you?"_

"I'm almost to forty-one," I replied. "We'll meet up there."

"_Roger that."_

Sam turned to me as I cut off the comm. "What's the plan?"

" 'Get help'." When he gave me a confused look, I groaned. "Just hide behind the door while I play unconscious. Wait for my signal."

He gave me a thumbs up and went to his position.

"_Alright, I'm on forty-one, headed to the south west stairwell." _ He rounded the corner. "What the heck?" He ran over and knelt down beside me, checking for my pulse. "Rumlow to command, Valkyrie is down, she's unconscious. Request for medical attention immediately." I heard him sigh, whispering, "Not so strong now are you?"

I signaled, 'one, two, three, go.' Sam jumped out of his spot and attacked.

Rumlow fought back and managed to throw him to the ground.

"This is gonna hurt."

"Not like this…." I opened my eyes and threw my leg out, knocking Rumlow to his knees.

He slung his fist at me, but I caught it, absorbing the punch with my telekinesis. He punched me in the gut and picked me up by the throat, throwing me across the room by Sam.

"There are no prisoners with HYDRA, just order. And order only comes through pain. You ready for yours?" Rumlow turned his gaze to me. "And you. Do you know what HYDRA does with traitors? Spies?"

Sam helped me up and turned to him and said, "Man, just shut the hell up."

And they attacked each other again. After Sam was thrown over the table, I jumped onto Rumlow's back and attempted to knock him unconscious. He released my grip and threw me over to Sam.

"You're out of your depth, kid." Suddenly the first Helicarrier crashed into the Triskelion, catching Rumlow in the destruction. We turned and sprinted away.

"Please, tell me you got that chopper in the air!" Sam yelled through the comm.

_**"Sam, where are you?"**_

"41st floor, north-west corner!"

_**"We're on it, stay where you are."**_

"Not an option!" As the building is being destroyed, Sam yells, "Hold onto me." I grabbed hold of him and we jumped out of the window as Natasha and Fury flew their chopper, barely in time to catch us.

As we caught our breath from the excursion, Sam yelled, "41st floor! 41st!"

Nick looked back, "It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!"

Nat put her hand to her comm. "Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?"

"Guys….I don't feel so hot…."

"Angie, stay with me," Natasha replied, tapping me on the face. "Now's not the time for a nap."

My eyes rolled back and the darkness came over me.

~:~

_**"-You know me-"**_

_**"-No, I don't!-"**_

_**"-Bucky, you've known me your whole life-"**_

_**"-Your name is James Buchanan Barnes-"**_

_**"-Shut up!-"**_

_**"-I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend.-"**_

_**"-You're my mission. You're my mission!-"**_

_**"-Then finish it. Cause I'm with you to the end of the line.-"**_

_**There was a white flash of light**_

_**I was back in that white space….**_

"_**Anja Stefanie Jarvis, I thought I told you to be careful!"**_

_**Mama….not again….**_

"_**I was being careful...I don't know what happened." Her form soon became visible. "Was that who..."**_

"_**That's not important right now." She snapped, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Now, get up and keep on fighting."**_

_**~:~**_


	31. Chapter 31

_**~:~**_

**Beep...Beep ...Beep….**

I slowly opened my eyes, blinded by the light above. I shot up from the bed, gasping for air.

A pair of hands slightly pushed me to lay back down.

"Angie, slow down you're okay. You're safe."

My eyes watered at the sound of the voice. "Logan?"

He gave me a small smile. "Yeah, it's me…."

"How did I get here? I was just…."

"Some guy brought you here," Logan said. "He told us you spaced out and then just dropped. And when they couldn't get you up…you get the point."

I nodded in reply. "Has anyone called?"

"Congress wants to talk to you. They want to hear your side or something."

"Anybody else?" I asked with a gulp.

He shook his head. "Besides them, no. Sorry, Ange."

"I guess I need to say hi to Marcos and then high-tail it out of here." I sat up and threw my legs over the side of the bed. "Tell someone to call Congress back. Get them to use my HYDRA cover. I don't want the press getting a hold of me."

"You could have gotten yourself killed," he said, glaring at me. "World's went to hell since D.C. and you were a part of it." I stared at my lap.

_You have no idea…. _

"How's Marcos?"

"Irritated. Annoyed." He huffed, "I mean every time everything's good, you leave and everything goes bad. You need to decide: keep fighting or retire. You can't do both."

"You have." I stood up and began to walk away. "You have for years. Granted it's been off and on but-"

"I don't have the responsibilities you have."

I scoffed. "That's a lie. You have the same responsibilities I have. But you ignore them." I shook my head. "Maybe that's why you and Scott butt heads so much. And that's why Laura resents you so much."

"First of all, me and Scott have always done that. And two, that's different," he replied. "She may be my kid. But I was never meant to be her father."

"And I was never meant to be his mother." I looked around. "When he got here, I was drawn to him. Drawn to his pain. But…I've realized that I can't help him."

"You have helped him." He walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "More than you realize."

"Maybe I have. But I'm still a kid. A scared little kid who doesn't know what to do."

He placed his hand on my cheek, wiping away a stray tear, and pulled me into a hug.

"You always know what to do." I tensed at his reply.

"Then why does everyone still get hurt?"

He pulled away and forced me to look at him. "What did you see?"

"Her. She ripped me a new one for almost dying." _Again…._

He smirked, turning towards the sound of running from down the hall. "And I think he would too."

"Mom! What the heck?" Marcos ran up to me and pulled me into a hug. "Stop almost dying!"

I squeezed him tighter. "I know, bud. I know."

~:~

_**Sometime later….**_

"Explain to the Council your involvement in the recent events," the committee general said.

"About a year or two ago, I was hired by the deceased Director Fury. He grew suspicious of a terrorist cell growing within the agency. My job was to infiltrate it and gain their trust."

"And how did you manage to do that?"

"I infiltrated a small group, who took me to the higher-ups. They couldn't believe that someone with my background could really be one of them," I replied. "Once I got to where I was at the time of the Triskelion, I had managed to become one of the highest officers in the organization."

"And what intel did you gather?"

I shook my head. "Nothing more than what Agent Romanoff released to the public."

"None at all?" he frowned. "What of the intel on your past? I'm sure you had something to gain in your time there."

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean, general."

"About your parentage, your past?"

"I know everything I need to know." I crossed my arms. "My mother was kidnapped by the terrorist cell and was experimented on. Somewhere along the line, she was impregnated and six months after she escaped, she had me. End of story."

"Your father?"

"He gave me life. I'll give you that. But other than that, I have no need to know."

~:~

After the hearing, I drove to the cemetery. I saw Steve and the others, but I kept my distance and sat on a park bench.

I knew I needed to go and talk to them, but…who would want to. I lied to them, betrayed their trust. If it was the other way around, I wouldn't want to talk to me either.

As I sat there swimming in my thoughts, I heard a car lock and a man called out for me.

"Ms. Jarvis?"

I turned around and peered over my sunglasses. "Can I help you?"

"Everett Ross. CIA." A look of recognition slowly crept over my face. "It's been a long time."

"Yes ...yes it has."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but…." He came to sit next to me. "You look like crap."

"Way to make a girl feel great," I said with a laugh. The smile dropped from my face, and I glanced over at the group.

"I know that face." He turned his head to look at me. "That's the scared nineteen year old girl I met eight years ago."

"And you're still the hotshot pilot."

He gave me a small smile. "Maybe I am." He turned his gaze to the others. "Talk to them."

"Like they'd want to talk to me," I scoffed. "I lied to them for a year, I betrayed them."

"It was all fake, wasn't it?"

"It was to me." I pointed at them. "To them…." I chuckled. "They may know the truth. But it still hurts."

"That year really took a toll on you, didn't it?" He asked, concern filling his eyes.

I shook my head. "No, the past twenty-eight years have taken its toll on me." I stood up. "Everytime I think I'm out of the fight, something always brings me back in." I began pacing in front of the agent. "I'm supposed to be done. Supposed to be keeping my family away from…." I waved my hands around, "all this. But no." I sat back down. "I keep jumping right back in."

"First, it was the fiancee and the mission that went south. Then, Tony went missing, almost died, turned up fine, almost died again, and then was fine again. Only for him to get sick a few months later where he almost died again. Then…_Aliens_…and now this boatload of crap. Along with all the underlying family drama that's going on."

My hands were shaking, trembling in guilt. "All these years, I thought I had changed. But…I guess you're right. I'm still that scared nineteen year old girl." I sighed, tears brimming my eyes. "What happened to me?"

"Someone I met once said: _Life happened. You just have to learn to take what it left you and move on._" He smiled. "And she turned into one amazing person."

"Are you sure you're talking about me?" I questioned. "Because I was grief-stricken over my breakup and I don't know if you can tell but…." I gestured to myself. "I'm a mess."

"You are the most amazing mess I've ever known," he replied. "Now…."

_I knew this wasn't a courtesy call….._

I groaned. "What are you really here for, Ross?"

"Never could distract you, could I?" He sighed and handed me a folder. "My bosses were impressed with your work with the terrorist cell. They hope you could replicate it."

I quickly flipped through the package, and shook my head. "I'm flattered but no." I handed it back to him. "There are too many lives at risk here." I glanced over at Sam. "I can't put them in any more danger than I already have."

"Understandable. So, you'll think about it?"

"No. But…" I handed him a business card. "I know someone who may be looking for a job. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

He nodded, "It was great seeing you again," and waved goodbye. "And do me a favor," he pointed at Sam. "Don't screw that up. I know there's something there."

"I won't…." We nodded to each other and he walked off.

I heard another voice behind me. "Finally, the fed is gone."

I gasped, tears filling my eyes. "N-Nick?" I turned around and saw the former spy, arm in a sling. "Y-You're alive…."

"Of course I am. You'd think I'd let you go on that op without me covering your ass."

I wrapped my arms around his neck, minding the sling. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too." He held out his good arm for me. "Shall we?" he asked, nodding towards the two soldiers.

I let out a shaky breath and took his arm. "We shall." We slowly made our way to the gravestone of the now-alive Nicholas J. Fury.

"So," Fury called out. "You've experienced this sort of thing before?"

"You get used to it." Steve replied.

"_The path of the righteous man. Ezekiel 25:17_?" I quirked a brow at the man. "We both know that's not in the Bible."

"Maybe not, but it's an excellent movie quote." I nodded in agreement. He turned back to Steve. "We've been data-mining HYDRA's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm headed to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I gotta do first."

"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."

Sam glanced over to me and then back at Fury. "I'm more of a soldier than a spy."

Fury turned his head to me. "You?"

"I just turned down a job offer to the CIA," I replied, "so, no." My face paled. "I've had way too much HYDRA for my liking."

"Alright then." The two men shook hands with him. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." He said as he pointed at the gravestone. "Want to see me out, Jarvis?"

"Sure. It's the least I can do." We walked away towards the car. Before he got in, he looked over at Sam. "That CIA guy was right: don't screw that up."

I turned around to look at him too. "I think I already have, Nick."

"Try me." He nodded to the man. "Talk to him."

"Okay…."

After he got in, he rolled down the window, handing me a folder. "This belongs to you. Sorry I tried to bribe you with it."

"I thought I'd ever see the day," I replied with a smirk. "Nick Fury apologizing."

"Don't let it get to your head."

"And Fury?" He peered over his sunglasses. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He nodded, rolling up the window as he sped off.

I turned around and my eyes locked with Sam's.

_I guess it's now or never…._

"We need to talk," I said as I slowly made my way to him.

"Save it." My heart dropped. _Yeah, Fury. I think I totally screwed this up._

I reached out. "Sam…"

"No," he growled, taking a step back. "You don't just get to pull what you did and come back acting like it didn't have any consequences."

"And you don't think I realize that?" Over Sam's shoulder, I saw Steve walk up. "I didn't know what was going to happen."

"Is that so?" Steve drawled. "Then what was that at the bridge?" I motioned for them to follow me, and came to stop at a park bench.

"Both of you sit down." Both men followed suit. "Now, y'all are going to sit here and shut up. Let me tell you what happened. And there will be no interruptions. Got it?"

~:~


	32. Chapter 32

_**~:~**_

"Now, y'all are going to sit here and shut up. Let me tell you what happened. And there will be no interruptions. Got it?" They nodded, crossing their arms, clearly not happy with the terms. "Thank you."

I took a deep breath. "A...good while back, before I met you Steve...well…" I furrowed my brow, and gave Steve a look. "Do you remember something about Tony rediscovering an element?"

"I thought you didn't want us to talk?" Sam remarked, earning a glare in reply.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I remember something about that. The old reactor was killing him."

"Yeah, that. Well, Fury thought I had something to do with it, so he put an agent on me to watch me. Cue in Clint."

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"Steve, no interruptions. Let me talk." I huffed. "Well, Clint was the bodyguard. Mission: Keep the heiress alive until Tony isn't dying. And he succeeded. Tony found the element, and Coulson and Co went to New Mexico, and you know what happened there."

"In comes the new bodyguard, Grant. And from the start, I knew something was off. I couldn't tell what it was, but something was off. But...I brushed it off and focused on helping Tony with Vanko and Hammer. And once that was over, I was ready to move on, but Fury had other ideas."

"Turns out Fury had the same gut feeling about him. He asked me to keep him on, one way or another, and keep an eye on him. And that lasted for about a year. I kicked Grant to the curb. Abandoned the mission altogether. Fast forward to-"

Sam held up a hand. "Hold on. What happened?"

~:~

"_Angie…." Grant knelt before me and grasped my hands, as I sat on the couch. "You know I love you, right?"_

_I sadly smiled. "I know you do. It's just...One day I know that's gonna be the end of you."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_Grant, if you're a part of something, I can get you out, just let me help you."_

_He shook his head. "It's not that simple, Angie. They would kill me, you too."_

"_I guess we're done, then," I replied, ripping myself from his grasp. "I can't have you bring your work home, and hurt me and my family."_

"_Hold on a second," he exclaimed, grabbing my hand before I could walk away. "Come with me. You could pretend…."_

"_No, Grant." I ripped my hand away. My phone began to ring. _**FURY. **

"_Hello?"_

"**Get to the base now. He's waking up."**

"_Good, cause I need to talk to you." I pulled the phone from my ear, and turned back to Grant. _

"_Don't do this, Angie. You could still come with me," Grant said._

"_You and I both know I can't do that." I stormed away and grabbed my bag._

"_If you walk out that door and do what I think you're about to do, you should highly reconsider," he said, stopping me in my tracks. _

"_Why's that?"_

"_You tell them about me and my employment…."_

_I scoffed. "Employment? Just tell the truth." I looked him straight in the eye. "HYDRA."_

_He gulped. "Whatever you want to call it. You tell them about me, I tell them about you." My face paled. "You, your family, the school, and the kid. And you and I both know that they shouldn't be involved."_

"_Fine…." I said through gritted teeth. "You keep your mouth shut, and I'll keep mine. You stay away, and so will I." I turned around to open the door and felt his hand on my wrist._

"_You don't have to do this," he said, the hurt seeping into my mind. "We can-"_

"_No, Grant. You keep your end of the deal…." I pulled the door open. "And I'll keep mine."_

~:~

"HYDRA?" Steve shook his head. "And you didn't tell anyone?"

"Back then, I didn't realize how bad it was. So, I brushed it off and tried to move on with my life. That's when they found you, Steve, and you know the story there. I buried myself in that until you were mostly self-sufficient. Fast forward to after New York."

"Me and Clint went on some '_friend/brother-sister'_ bonding trip. Both of us were stressed out, and thought, _'why not'. _Somewhere along the way, I was alone and Fury approached me with this." I pulled out a folder and handed it to them. "And with some persuasion, I accepted."

~:~

"_With what? Need me to spy on a possible HYDRA agent again," I joked. I saw his grave expression, and dropped my smile. "That's exactly what you need me to do."_

"_If you're willing." He handed me a file. "I would understand if you said no."_

_After skimming the file, I set it on the seat of the tractor and leaned against the wheel._

"_If this is some ploy to try and get me to tell you what happened with Ward, it isn't gonna work."_

"_It isn't that," he replied. "I just think with your...talents...you could be a good asset."_

"_For who? SHIELD?" I scoffed. "Over my dead body."_

"_You aren't going to be working for SHIELD." He gestured towards the file again. "You'll be working for me."_

_I furrowed my brow and grabbed the file again, quickly noticing the absence of the emblem._

"_If they find out, they could…"_

"_I understand that, Jarvis. But I can't let this spread any further than it already has." He took the file from my hands. "And like I said, you don't have to."_

"_But you'd rather me do it. Less conspicuous than Barton or Romanoff, and nobody would ever think I was a double agent."_

"_Precisely."_

~:~

Steve looked up from the folder and handed it to Sam. "Clint didn't know?"

I shook my head. "If he had, then him and Nat would have beat Fury to a bloody pulp for even fancying the idea." I sighed.

"How long?"

"Over a year..."

"I've noticed," Sam replied, giving me the once-over. "You always look like you haven't slept. But…" he handed the file back to Steve, and stood up. "I thought you would tell me when you were ready, so I never pried." He turned and began to walk away. "But I guess I was wrong."

I grabbed his arm. "Sam, wait. Please?"

"Why didn't you tell us? No, why didn't you tell _me_?" He motioned to Steve. "I understand not telling them, but why not me?"

"If I did, they would have _killed_ you," I exclaimed. "I already had enough death on my hands. I couldn't have yours on me too."

Both men gave me saddened looks.

"The first time I tried to stop them, I got a slap to the face and a warning: _Never interfere, or you will end up like them_. And every time that... I don't even remember how many times I threw up." My face paled. "I can still see their eyes, pleading for me to stop it. But I didn't."

"And the one that got to me the most was one of my teammates. I could tell he didn't want to be there, and I think he knew I didn't either."

"You almost blew your cover," Steve realized, shaking his head at the thought.

"I did," I replied. "So, the big boss sent the guy on a mission, and he never came back." Tears welled up in my eyes. "It took us three weeks to find his body. It had been burned to a crisp. Claimed that the mission went south, but I knew that wasn't true."

"So, in response, they gave me some time off, but '_keep alert, we may need you to come in'_." I wiped a tear away. "Cue the evil ex-bodyguard/boyfriend. I guess word got around I was slipping, so they sent him in. And I thought, 10 months of recon down the drain."

"And what made it worse was that I couldn't tell you. You kept asking, Sam, but I couldn't." I turned to Steve. "And I couldn't tell you, because Fury didn't want you involved."

"What does the bridge have to do with all this?" Steve asked. "You explained what you've been doing, so, why didn't you just turn on them?"

"Because, Rumlow and his squad never met me, but they knew I was an asset," I replied.

"And what if it went wrong?" Sam asked.

"I knew Hill was in the van. I knew y'all would get out."

"If not?"

"I would have beat myself up everyday for letting you get killed."

"Did you know about Bucky? Or did you know about Howard and Maria?"

I shook my head, sadly. "I didn't, I'm sorry."

"Would you have told me if you did?" I opened my mouth to reply, but shut it and shook my head.

"Probably not. And would you have believed me?" I furrowed my brow. "And what about Howard and Maria? They died in a car accident." He tensed in reply. "No...No, no, no…" I raked my hands through my hair. Bile rose to my throat and I ran to the nearest trash can.

A pair of hands pulled my hair back, and handed me a tissue to wipe my mouth. I shook my head, sobs beginning to rip through me.

"No, they couldn't have…"I sobbed. "Why-" I gasped. "How are we gonna tell Tony?"

Sam wrapped an arm around me. "You'll figure it out."

"No," Steve replied. "We're not gonna tell him."

"Why not? Howard may have been your friend, but he and Maria were Tony's _parents_, Steve," I argued. "You do not get to make that call."

"We don't even know all the facts, Angie. How do we know that they weren't bluffing?"

"Then, Tony can help us figure that out."

"No, not until we know more." He frowned. "I don't want him to get worked up over nothing."

"Fine," I grumbled. "But if he finds out, I won't lie to him."

_**~:~**_

My phone buzzed.

_McGee's, 12:00. We need to talk.-Sam_

I sighed. It had been almost a week since I told them the truth. I hadn't heard from either of them. I didn't know what hurt worse: telling them or the hurt on their faces as they left.

After quickly getting ready, I drove over to the cafe. When I looked around and never saw him, I looked down at my watch. _11:58...We have time…_

11: 58 turned to 12, and 12 to 12:30.

As I held my head in my hands, I felt a tap on my shoulder. The waitress handed me a note, along with my usual.

"That young man told me to give this to you when you got here," she said. "I meant to give this to you earlier, but we got a little busy."

I gave her a quick thank you and ripped open the note as she walked off.

_-Dear Angie, I know you're probably ticked off and it seems like I ditched you. I'm just a coward who can't say this to your face._

_I forgive you, even if you didn't ask to be forgiven, but I need time to process all of this. Don't come looking for me, you probably won't find me. Steve asked me to help him look for Barnes. Just give me time._

_I'm sorry I'm not man enough to say this to your face. But I guess I've had too much to deal with in the past month, than the two tours I served._

_I hope you find some peace of mind, _

_Sam._

I looked at the bottom of the paper and noticed something he tried to erase, but I knew what it said. I pulled out my phone and sent him the words he tried to hide.

_Stay safe, and I love you, too._

~:~


End file.
